MARK BITTMAN'S BASIC BISCOTTI

Mark Bittman's Basic Biscotti image

I love Mark Bittman! This comes from "How to Cook Everything." This was my first time making biscotti, and they came out absolutely wonderful -- this was such an easy recipe. Best of all, he gives it not as a recipe, but as a template; you can essentially add anything and make whatever kind of biscotti you want. The only near-problem I found is that the 30 minute initial cooking time was too long for me; the edges of my logs were quite brown. Next time I'll try for 25-28 minutes, and go a full 20 minutes for the second round in the oven. The serving size is based on half biscotti; I got 24 very large biscotti, and consider half a cookie a serving.

Provided by KLHquilts

Categories Dessert

Time 1h30m

Yield 48 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 6

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, unsalted, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 vanilla extract (or whatever flavor you want, I used a full teaspoon)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder

Steps:

Preheat oven to 375.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated; add extract and beat until incorporated.
Butter and flour two cookie sheets (or spritz 'em with baking spray; that worked well for me). Divide dough in half and shape each into a "log" about 2" wide. This will spread quite a bit during baking, so if you try to cram 'em on to one baking sheet, bear that in mind.
Bake until logs are golden and beginning to crack on top. Bittman says this is 30 minutes; for me, it was closer to 25 minutes. (At 30 minutes mine were a little overdone.) Remove from oven and drop temperature to 250.
When loaves are cool enough to touch, slice each into 1/2-inch slices, on the diagnonal. (You can always eat the little nubby ends that are left over!)
Return the slices to the baking sheets and return them to the oven. Bake at 250 for another 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.
Cool on wire racks.
NOTE: Mr. Bittman makes lots of wonderful suggestions for variations. I threw in a cup of chopped blanched almonds and half a cup of currants, and used almond extract. You can throw in any spice you like (cinnamon, anise, nutmeg); a cup of nuts (almonds or hazelnuts); chocolate chips; citrus zest; crystallized ginger; dried fruit -- you can change the flavor of your extract to match. You can also wait until your biscotti are cool, and then top 'em with a chocolate glaze (4 oz. good chocolate mixed with 2 tablespoons butter and a little extract for flavoring).
Enjoy!