A few days ago I sent out my package for the first round of Secret Baker! When I first started thinking about what to include in the package, biscotti came to mind. I knew they’d ship well and would probably be just as tasty when they arrived at their destination on day 4 or 5 as they were the first day I made them. I had a few varieties in mind, but when I found out who I’d be baking for, none of my ideas were appropriate. I started flipping through cookbooks and came upon these spiced biscotti in Baking Illustrated. Perfect! Our theme for the first round of Secret Baker was fall and warm spices definitely shout fall to me!
There was an interesting discussion in Baking Illustrated about the quantity and type of fat used in biscotti and its effect on the taste, texture and shelf life of the biscotti. The book includes recipes that use eggs as the only fat as well as a recipe that calls for both butter and eggs. Someday I hope to have time to make them all at the same time & compare to see if I can pick out the differences! The recipe I chose for spiced biscotti used no butter at all – just eggs and additional egg yolks. According to the discussion, biscotti made without butter are tasty and crisp even after a week while those which included butter lost their flavor and crunch quickly as the butter baked into them went stale.
I tried a small nibble of one of the end pieces and while I’m not a huge fan of biscotti’s generally crunchy texture, I did enjoy the flavor of these. I only hope my Secret Bakee likes them too! 🙂
Spiced Biscotti
from Baking Illustrated, by the Editors of Cook’s Illustrated
2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground white or black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices together in medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk sugar and eggs (including additional yolks) to a light lemon color then add the vanilla extract. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients until the dough is just combined.
Halve the dough and turn each half onto the prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, quickly stretch each portion of dough into a rough 13 x 2-inch log, placing them about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Pat each dough shape to smooth it. Bake, turning pan once, until loaves are golden and just beginning to crack on top, about 35 minutes.
Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and cool the loaves for 10 minutes; lower oven temperature to 325 F. Transfer the loaves onto a cutting board and cut each loaf diagonally into 3/8-inch slices with a serrated knife. Lay the slices flat, about 1/2 inch apart, on the cookie sheet and return them to the oven. Bake, turning over each cookie halfway through baking, until crisp and golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer biscotti to wire rack and cool completely.
Oh, those look really delicious. How do you get those so evenly cut, etc.? Mine always crumble. I love the color on these as well. Stealing this recipe for sure, thanks!
They look delicious! Biscotti is a great idea for shipping, nice and sturdy! The only biscotti I’ve ever made is the one we made for SMS, and it was so fun to make I want to make it again soon. These sound really yummy, and like something that would be great to have around the house for munching on around the holidays.
I wish I was the recipient of this package. Love Biscotti and these look great.
Anxious to get reports on ALL the SB packages.
You are just amazing! I love reading all your baking tweets and yes this biscotti is beautiful. I also enjoyed reading the comparison info on the fats. I’ve wondered about that as well. Nice exchange for your Secret Baker.
AmyRuth
What beautiful biscotti, they sound delicious. I made biscotti for my Secret Bakee, too, but mine weren’t as pretty. It took me a while to think of Fall items that would ship well.
Where’s the coffee? I feel the need to dunk one of these cookies!
Your biscotti looks perfect. I’ve never made my own biscotti, but always wanted to because there’s barely any fat.
Ooh yum. I love biscotti! Mine never turn out looking that good, though!
They look delicious and I love the idea of spicing them. I always tend to make some sort of almond or anise version. I’ll have to double check the recipe I use because I think it has butter in it. They stay fresh for quite a while.
I seriously wouldn’t mind you sending some to me… Just to see if they retain their shape as well as you say!
Mine never look as good as this. Like the fact there’s no butter. A real biscotti recipe!
Biscotti are my favortie to make over the holidays! Can;t wait to start making them!
I love Cooks Illustrated — I appreciate how they really explain the recipes and you learn how ingredients work together. These biscotti look amazing — I have had spotty luck with baking these, but your recipe gives me renewed ambition to bake it again!
Update: When I first wrote my comment, I had NO IDEA these were destined for my place…how lucky am I??? These are so great, I am dipping one now ever so slightly into some hot apple cider on this chilly night…thank you so much. These are very good…and the cranberry bread you sent was also very very good. You can bake for me anytime! I knew whoever you got would be in for a treat…just didn’t realize at the time it was ME!
Absolutely perfect biscotti! The only time I made biscotti, they looked nothing like yours!
I’ve made biscotti twice and want to try again; this might be just the recipe!
Your biscotti look wonderful. Great gift!
I’ll get out my copy of Baking Illustrated – these look wonderful. I LOVE biscotti – the crunchier, the better. I used to make biscotti all the time in Seattle, and need to pick back up on it. Photography is stunning! What type of lighting system do you use???
I so would have loved getting this in the mail. Nice.
These biscotti look perfect Tracey. I love them.
Gave these a try tonight—I doubled the cinnamon, and I also did half of the batch (one “log”) with raisins and walnuts. Delicious! Another big win for Baking Illustrated in my book! Thanks for posting this!