What are biscotti?

Biscotti are Italian cookies that are baked twice to give them a characteristic crispiness. While it may take some time to bake your own biscotti, it is not particularly difficult. If baking is not your thing, you may buy good quality biscotti at many places, like Lazzaroni biscotti Just be aware that individually wrapped variety may become stale if they sit out too long at a coffee shop.

If you are making your own biscotti, the process to make them, while a little drawn out, is well within the reach of anyone who has baked before. You start by making a dough that is a little stickier than most cookie dough. This dough is shaped into a log and baked until puffy and lightly browned. Then the log is cut into slices and baked again in a low-temperature oven for around an hour until it is crispy and brown. Some common ingredients might include raisins, dried cranberries, a variety of nuts, or dried apricots, in any combination that the baker finds pleasing.

Biscotti are generally served with coffee, either in the afternoon as a snack, or after dinner as a dessert. They are commonly dunked in the coffee to soften them a little before eating. They may have a chocolate coating on one end, which melts pleasingly when dunked in the coffee. Just be sure not to leave the biscotti in the coffee for too long, or it may become mushy, or the end may drop off into your cup.

The next time you serve an Italian meal, make sure to have some biscotti to accompany an espresso at the end. Your guests will be so pleased with this authentic finish.