An Italian biscotti recipe usually has four parts:
In the past few years some of the coffee houses have gone crazy with wild ideas and odd biscottis - and they have strayed from the traditional Italian biscotti recipe. And because those coffee houses go off the charts with their wierdness, they usually need preservatives to keep the color or to keep them from molding because they have eggs in them. A traditional old school recipe won't have that. And you can read about that in the history of biscotti if you are interested.
I haven't gotten to the point where I experiment with craziness. I just can't do that - yet. Maybe someday I'll lighten up and try making that stuff. Just
not ready yet. (Although I did get kinda experiment-ey with the
For the most part you will notice the biscotti recipes here on my site do have egg, and do have a tad of oil. But they are more of the old-school traditional types. My great grandmother used to make these.
You should be able to make biscotti successfully first time around. Here's why:
The big thing to keep in mind is to set enough time aside for two bakings!
After the second baking you cut these into logs. A couple of things here:
Traditionally we store these in an airtight jar. Anything airtight can be used. And if you wanna have a little fun with it you want to buy a fancy pants biscotti jar. Since most of my biscotti recipes call for a tiny amount of oil/butter - and these won't keep as long as the ones in the olden days. As always use your best judgment in storing.
Above all - have fun! Get creative! Happy baking ~
If you are interested this is a short little lesson about the history of biscotti which has more to do with the life and times - rather than a culinary magic wand, or some child prodigy discovering a cookie concoction.
One last word. Give yourself at least for prep and baking. And actually it will probably take a bit more than that. When planning just remember the two bakings.
Back to the list of Italian biscotti recipes.
