If you have an Italian grandmother who bakes biscotti, you should probably stop reading this right now. Once you have this recipe, don’t blame me if she turns on you and don’t say I didn’t warn you. OK, my conscience is clear now.
I started baking biscotti probably about 20 years ago. I was never really a fan of them when I was younger because they were always the same; Anise flavored, plain and dry. Any cookie that had to be dunked to be eaten was, to me, not a cookie worth the calories.
But about 20 years ago, I was at my friend, Jean’s house and tasted her biscotti which were actually good, and different. I don’t remember what kind they were but I must have really liked them because I asked for the recipe, which I then turned into my own with a tweak here and there.
I am now a certified biscotti maniac. The maniacal baker in me was encouraged by my father. After my divorce, I lived with him for two years when he was in his 90′s. He regularly polished off two or three biscotti a morning, then would shame me when there were none left by going to the store and buying Stella D’ oro Anisette Toast. He’d say, “Well, there weren’t any left, and you didn’t bake any, what was I supposed to do?” As though he would starve to death if there were no biscotti at the breakfast table.
He was a master of this technique after 52 years with my mother. Like my mom, I’d immediately whip out our mixing bowl because who wants to be outdone by Stella ‘D oro? (Nothing against Stella, in fact, I am grateful to you for saving my father from biscotti starvation when I didn’t have time to bake.)
Once I realized how easy and ridiculously versatile they are, I started thinking about different versions of biscotti. I can never leave a good recipe alone, just like my mom, who tried chocolate chips in just about everything and created a blueberry pie with peanut butter crust that you would trample your own offspring to reach. (I can’t wait to share that recipe with its virginity angle! Only my mom could combine the two.)
Italian Biscotti Recipe with baker’s tweaksBut back to biscotti. I started with the basic recipe, which looks like it came from Sunset Magazine. ( It also looks like it’s gone through a war, but that’s what happens when you use a recipe as much as I’ve used this one.) Jean tweaked it and put in the bread flour, but I never use bread flour because I’m lazier than Jean.
Then I tweaked it. I left out the baking soda and the orange and lemon rind and started experimenting. I have nothing against orange or lemon rind, but all I got when I was a kid with an Italian mom was cookies with anise, orange and lemon rind. I actually like the combo, but not in every cookie.
So, the first cookie I tried was anise with vanilla flavoring and almonds; it was good. Then I tried it with macadamia nuts and it was even better. Then I put white chocolate on the outside and it reached perfection.
Next I tried it with cranberries, almond extract, chopped almonds and white chocolate. Then I thought, what about hazelnuts and cinnamon, with white chocolate on the outside and just a drizzle of chocolate? (Americans will always take something that’s European and fairly healthy and weigh it down with sugar because dammit, that’s who we are.) People loved it.
Peanut Biscotti with Peanut Butter White Chocolate and Sea Salt — Completely Yummy!
Then I tried pumpkin spice with walnuts and it became my favorite. Next was lemon with lemon-flavored white chocolate and it got even better reviews. As I sit here, I’m thinking, Hey, orange biscotti would be good!Last night I tried salted peanut because, well everyone’s salting everything anymore, so I wondered if that would be good. It was really good.
The only downside to these biscotti is that if you have an Italian grandmother or any Italian relative, she willhate you because yours will be better than hers. She’ll probably start excluding you from family gatherings or you’ll find her rooting through your kitchen one day, trying to steal your recipe. I’m not kidding.
My mom once pointed a paring knife at me when we were both cooking pasta sauce and forced me to put everything in hers I was putting in mine. I don’t think she would have disemboweled me, but you never know. It’s a good rule of thumb to never mess with Italian women in the kitchen.
So, here’s the newly tweaked peanut recipe with all the possible alternatives listed below. Try your own twist on them. My nephew Patrick, also a maniacal cook, tried them with pistachios and loved them. Just stay away from Grandma in the kitchen after this. She can’t be trusted.
Peanut Biscotti
(You will sound very multicultural if you know this — in Italian biscotti is the word you use for more than one, but biscotto is what you say when you refer to only one. Go ahead, impress the people at Starbucks with this.)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, preferably large or extra large
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup of lightly salted, roasted peanuts (not dry roasted)
3 cups flour
3 tsp or 1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt or slightly less
(Keep this separate) Yolk of one egg mixed with 1/2 tsp water and 1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Sea Salt (for Sprinkling after frosting)
Peanut Butter White Chocolate Frosting
6 oz white Nestle white chocolate chips
2 TBSP Creamy Peanut Butter (I used Open Nature with only peanuts and salt)
Place the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on 50 % power at one minute intervals until melted, usually two to three minutes is long enough. Just start stirring them and they will melt. Once the white chocolate is melted, just add the peanut butter and stir until incorporated.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and add the vanilla.
3. Add the chopped nuts.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and stir into the batter. The dough should come together in one big ball that’s easy to work with. If it’s too sticky, add just a little more flour, if too dry add just a little water.
5. Divide the dough into two parts and roll each into a long roll.
6. Lay each roll on a cookie sheet. (Flat ones with no edges are great for cutting the cookies when they’re baked.) Flatten the rolls slightly and round out the edges.
7. Brush the top of the flattened rolls with the egg yolk, water, sugar mixture (it gives them a nice sheen). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until lightly browned.
8. Remove from the oven, slide spatula under flattened rolls to separate them from the cookie sheet, and cut each roll into 1″ slices. Then lay each biscotto cut side down on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Lower the heat and Bake at 325 for 15 minutes more.
9. Cool on a rack, then frost one cut side with peanut butter white chocolate mixture.
10. Very lightly, sprinkle sea salt with your hands, over iced biscotti. Don’t wait too long or white chocolate will harden.
Alternate Recipes
#1. Anise Biscotti with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate
Follow Peanut Biscotti recipe and add 1tsp of anise flavoring to batter. Substitute unsalted, chopped macadamia nuts for the peanuts. For icing, just melt white chocolate chips and spread mixture on cooled biscotti. No sea salt should be added after icing.
#2 Cranberry or Cherry Almond Biscotti with White Chocolate
Follow Peanut Biscotti recipe and add 1 tsp of Almond flavoring to batter. Substitute 1 cup chopped blanched almonds for peanuts. Add 1 cup of chopped, dried cranberries or cherries to batter. For icing, just melt white chocolate chips and spread mixture on cooled biscotti. No sea salt should be added after icing.
#3 Pumpkin Spice Biscotti with White Chocolate
Follow recipe for Peanut Biscotti. Add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cloves to flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Substitute 1 cup chopped walnuts instead of peanuts. For icing, melt white chocolate chips and spread mixture on cooled biscotti. No sea salt should be added after icing.
#4. Lemon Biscotti
Follow recipe for Peanut Biscotti. Delete vanilla extract and add 1 tsp of lemon extract plus the grated zest of one lemon to butter and egg mixture. Delete peanuts. For icing, melt white chocolate and add zest of one lemon. This will make the white chips harden, but add 1 to 2 TBSP of vegetable oil, or more (canola is fine) and keep mixing. It will soften and you can spread it. (It won’t glisten as much as the others do, but will taste great.)
#5. Hazelnut Cinnamon Biscotti
Follow recipe for Peanut Biscotti. Substitute 1 cup of blanched, lightly toasted, chopped hazelnuts. Add 1 tsp cinnamon to flour mixture and blend thoroughly. For icing, melt white chocolate chips and spread mixture on cooled biscotti. Once white chocolate has dried, melt 1/3 cup chocolate chips and drizzle mixture on top of dried white chocolate. No sea salt should be added after icing.
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