This anise biscotti recipe is my mom's. It was in my family before I was born. Every Christmas she would bake loaves of this biscotti to give to the family. It's one of those Italian biscotti recipe that may not thrill the young ones. As little kids we weren't really that thrilled. We didn't want anything crunchy. We wanted pure unadulerated white sugar American-crap-bakery-cookies (which my mom didn't believe in). We were so mad that our mom would make these and not buy us cookies like the "other-kids" we made up a slang name for them. My mom wasn't that happy with our word choice. But it makes for a fun story to tell my grand kids every Christmas
It's hard to believe something I hated thirty years ago (okay, forty years ago) - IS REALLY POPULAR NOW! And I guess my mom was hip before her time. All in all this anise biscotti recipe is wa-a-a-y better than the preservative laden biscotti crap sold at Starbucks. This is uber fresh and is very much a traditional Italian biscotti recipe.
A couple things to keep in mind while making this recipe, make sure you have set aside enough time:
Enjoy making this anise biscotti recipe and have a little sugar everyday! Not tons, but enough to make you happy!
2 cups sugar
1 cup melted butter
4 Tbsp. anise seed
1/4 Cup anise-flavored liqueur
3 Tbsp. bourbon (See substitution notes below)
2 cups coarsely chopped almonds or walnuts
6 eggs
5 1/2 cups regular all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
* Mix sugar with butter, anise seed, anise liqueur, bourbon, and nuts.
* Beat in the eggs.
* Sift and measure flour after sifting.
* Sift again with baking powder into the sugar mixture.
* Blend thoroughly.
* Cover and chill the dough for at least an hour, and 2 hours wouldn't hurt.( Yes, really! My mom would say "follow the directions if you want it turn out right")
* On a lightly floured board, shape dough with your hands to form flat loaves that are about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches wide.
* Make the loaves as long as your cookie sheets.
* Place no more than 2 loaves, parallel and well apart on a buttered cookie sheet.
* Bake in 375 oven for 20 minutes.
* Remove from the oven and let loaves cool on pans until you can touch them.
* Cut diagonal slices that are about 1/2 to 2/3 inch thick.
* Lay slices on cut sides. Keep them close together on cookie sheet.
* Return to the oven (375 degrees) for 15 minutes more or until lightly toasted.
* Cool on wire racks.
* I'd give yourself at least to get everything done.
NOPE! No Way. That's what this is - an anise biscotti recipe.
NOPE! No Way. That's what this is - an anise biscotti recipe.
Here's what my mom has in her notes; "2 teaspoons of vanilla and 2 Tbsp water". My dad drank a lot of bourbon. Still does! I'm guessing this note means my mom probably had to use this substitution at one time.
It's a spice we use a lot in Italian dessert recipes . It's comes from a plant with green feather-like leaves. It smells like black licorice and and has a flavor similar to black licorice. (But it has nothing to do with licorice.)
I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type person. But I'm actually gonna be uptight on my answer here. I'd say yes. Just because my mom is such a great cook and true to the Italian tradition of this recipe. She always gave this as a gift to my great grandma. And my great grandma LOVED it. My great grandma is who I am named after. She came over to America on the boat in the early 1900's when she was 18. So, if great grandma liked it - let's not mess with it.
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