I created my own biscotti recipe when I got frustrated with the Italian biscotti cookies that I was buying from the grocery store or bakeries. What I did was make every Italian cookie recipe that I could get my hands on, then recreate a biscotti recipe by adjusting measurements of ingredients until I came up with a basic biscotti recipe that I could change and adapt with different flavor ingredients. These biscotti may not exactly be your nonni's biscotti, but they are delicious.

Baking biscotti is one of the best Italian cookies recipes that I have ever made, and baking biscotti does not require fancy ingredients or pans, so anyone can make them. Biscotti can last unrefrigerated in a covered tin or container for 4 weeks. You can freeze them for up to 6 months. I tend to make large batches at a time, then eat them slowly. You can increase this recipe easily by just doubling or tripling the ingredients.

Biscotti are one of the most popular of all the Italian cookies.  They can be baked weeks ahead and last for a long time unfrozen or refrigerated.  They are great for dunking in coffee, tea, or wine depending on the flavors, and are so easy to bake. 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons liqueur or liquor

1/4 teaspoon real vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of nuts

4 oz of bittersweet chocolate

1 cup of dried fruit

Nuts: I buy the nuts raw and toast them in my oven. I toast them at 350 dgrees for 6 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the nuts. I think they taste better and they are healthier than roasted nuts. Do not use salted nuts.

Fruit: I like a tart fruit because it blends well with the sweetness of the dough. You only need to soak the fruit for a few minutes while you are mixing the rest of the dough.

Before you start assembling ingredients for the biscotti, toast the nuts. They can be toasted a day or two before you bake the biscotti to cut down on time. Make sure they are cool before you use them.

To make the biscotti dough, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Once the butter sugar combination is very fluffy, beat in the eggs first. Then once mixed well, add the liqueur you have chosen and the vanilla extract. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.

Next add the dry ingredients--flour, baking powder and salt. These can be added at the same time. Mix them in until well blended. At this point, your dough will be difficult to mix and somewhat stiff unless you have used a lot of liquid. If you have, your dough will be sticky.

Once your dough is completely mixed, you can fold in the nuts, fruit and chocolate. The more you add, the harder the dough will be to mix, but that is okay because the biscotti will still come out okay. Remember, that when they bake the ingredients become more fluid.

You can bake right on your tray, but I like to line the baking pan with parchment paper. Parchment paper eliminates the need to butter the pan, and reduces the fat in the cookies. The biscott will not stick to the parchment paper. You can reuse the parchment paper a couple of times until it becomes brown or brittle.

Make one or two loaves (in a baguette or hot dog shape) on the parchment paper. You can alter the size of the biscotti by the width of the loaves.

Biscotti are twice baked cookies. The first baking is in the loaf shape. Bake the loaves in a preheated 325 degree oven between 25 and 40 minutes. This will depend on your oven so watch the first couple of batches very carefully after 25 minutes.

Each loaf should be lightly browned when you take it out. Let the loaves cool for a minimum of 10 minutes. If the center is too hot when you slice the loaves, they will fall apart. If you have chocolate in the biscotti, cool for at least 15 minutes..

Once cool enough, slice the loaves crossways to create individual biscotti. If you slice on a diagonal the biscotti will be longer. Slicing straight across will make them shorter. You can determine the width as you slice also.

For the secong baking, stand the biscotti up on their bottom edge (as if they were still in the loaf) with about a 1/4 inch between them. Bake them this second time at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. The longer you bake them the drier they will be. If 10 minutes isn't enough, bake them longer.

Let the biscotti cool on a rack before you serve them.

• Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

  Add powdered cocoa and ground chocolate to the dough and vodka soaked dried cherries.

• Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

  My favorite way to make this is to grind semi-sweet chocolate up very fine and swirl it through the dough. Then I chop the hazelnuts in uneven sizes and mix it in. Of course, I need to add Frangelico to this recipe.

• Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

  Add either Vodka or Grand Marnier, dried cranberries soaked in the liquid, and toasted pistachios.
  

• Lemon Biscotti

  Add lemon juice, lemon extract and the zest of one whole lemon.
  

• Anise Biscotti

  Add nutmeg, and anise extract.
  

• Almond Biscotti

  I prefer vanilla almond, but you can use almond extract or Amaretto instead of vanilla to enhance this flavor. Can be made with or without toasted almonds.
  

• Orange Apricot Pistachio Biscotti

  Grand Marnier, dried apricots, and pistachios.  Dough is very sticky.
  

• Vanilla Almond Biscotti

  This is the basic biscotti. I like to chop the almonds coarsely and add vanilla and Kahlua. I usually use more vanilla than the recipe asks for. You can also use Amaretto for this recipe.

• Almond Hazelnut Biscotti

  This has both nuts and vanilla and either Kahlua or Frangelico.

• Chocolate Chip Biscotti

  Use a vanilla base and add chopped chocolate or mini chips.

• Hazelnut Biscotti

  This is my personal favorite flavor.  Toasted hazelnuts, and Frangelico but it also can be made with Kahlua or vanilla.
  

I like to bake several batches of biscotti before any major holiday.  That way if we get invited to an event last minute, I can just wrap up some biscotti as a gift for the host or hostess.

Biscotti also make great gifts for your co-workers or boss. 

Since they last so long without freezing they don't need to be made right before you use them. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe.  If you have any questions about making biscotti, please leave your question in the comments section.  I will be sure to answer it.