I woke up this morning to find the high will be 71 degrees. In Alabama, this is not only Fall weather but could even be considered winter weather. So, with a southern nip in the air, I’m in the baking mood.
What goes better with cool weather than hot coffee and what goes better with coffee than BISCOTTI!?
Have you ever tried to make a biscotti? I have.
I remember it was Christmas break my junior year of college. My roommate had made me these incredible caramel covered biscotti… and so I had to make them too!
Well short story here… BIG FAIL. I resigned that I would never waste my time on such a frivolous coffee cookie again. What is a biscotti anyway? It’s just a glorified crouton, and croutons belong on a salad.
This was of course my view of baking biscotti then… I’ve grown up since then 🙂
Flash forward 8 years and Pinterest has been invented (and life is a little more DIY), and I’ve gotten my second wind with this biscotti thing and BAM. I found it…
THE.
RECIPE.
This recipe for basic vanilla biscotti is simple and just the sort of thing you need to get your feet wet for a holiday season full of baking.
I have cooked these biscotti’s a half dozen times over the past year and what I love most about it is how incredibly easy it is to tweak and change the flavors/ingredients to give you a completely different biscotti. You can have your chocolate biscotti, your vanilla cranberry biscotti, or even your pumpkin spice biscotti! It’s all possible with this wonderful recipe.
You’ll get to be THAT friend this year who not only gives a home baked gift but the one EVERYONE will be asking the recipe for! It’s a type of baker’s fame reserved only for winners of cooking show competitions… and biscotti makers.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do…
Basic Vanilla Biscotti Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes Serving: 25-30 biscotti
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter, salted
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I use 3 teaspoons)
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.
- (This is where the magic happens!) Mix in any additional ingredients if desired:
For spices- 1 teaspoon
For dried fruits/nuts-1/4cup
For Extracts- ¼ to ½ teaspoon
3. Beat in eggs and on low speed add flour. Dough will be sticky.
4. Pour dough on parchment lined or greased cookie sheet in 1 loaf or 2 and gently shape into loaves with spatula… again it’s sticky, so don’t stress over this. I usually do two loaves to get a more nicely shaped biscotti.
5. Bake 25 minutes. COOL COMPLETELY!
6. Slice and spread out on parchment lined cookie sheet. Reduce heat in oven to 300-325 and bake again for 30 minutes.
7. When cooled, store in upright container!
I can’t tell you how much you are going to love this recipe… it really takes no time at all and uses ingredients that are very common in homes. Enjoy it and let me know what kind of variations you have tried! My favorite is vanilla and cranberry… and even vanilla chocolate dipped.
Photo Credits: here, here, and here….. and HERE!
