Italian Biscotti

This may or may not be a review of this recipe, because I changed it so much, but here goes. I used 8 ounces of butter and 4 ounces of good olive oil, left out the almonds, substituted almond extract for the anise and brushed the logs with beaten egg whites before baking. I also baked them longer the second time. I then made 4 separate logs with four different flavors. They were Cherry flavored dried cranberries, sweetened coconut flakes, walnuts, and cocoa powder (2 tsp)and chocolate chips. The cranberries were the best! This is a great base recipe -- and I will for sure make it again!

I am getting so many compliments on my biscotti! From Italian people too!! I've made this recipe twice. At first you'll think the dough is too sticky but the large amount of butter in the recipe makes it easy to work with. Once I got to the point of adding flour I changed to a dough hook on my stand mixer. Without that, this could get tedious to mix. Excellent recipe - thank you!

I've been experimenting with biscotti recipes, lately, and this is by far our favorite! My husband took some to work and 2 people asked for the recipe. I put the dough into 2 large loaves - next time I'll make the loaves smaller, as the sliced pieces were a bit large. Make this; you'll be happy! Also - I used Splenda for Baking for the sugar.

This is a surprisingly simple, classic recipe for italian biscotti that any novice could make, and any expert would be proud to produce. I like biscotti a little thicker than average so I cut them into one inch slices for the second baking. As I had two trays to cook, I also raised the heat to 400 degrees and toasted them for 15 minutes so they were medium brown and very crunchy. Warm with coffee, they were so good I baked a batch to send to my mom.

I had no almonds or anise extract. I only used the vanilla extract. One cup of the flour substatuted with whole wheat flour because I ran out of all purpose. When the dough became VERY sticky I kept my hands floured and pressed the rest together to finish mixing. Turning it onto a floured surface helped also,then working it till easy to handle. I put parchment paper down on the cookie sheet(found in the grocery store next to the aluminum foil);these turned out perfect! They are plain with just the vanilla but I like to dip them in strong coffee so I don't mind. Next time I will buy the anise extract, I am sure they will be even better! I will make these again!

ok, so what did I do wrong? Knead by hand?? HOW?? I added an additional cup of flour and it STILL isn't kneadable! all those ingredients wasted.

A lovely subtle taste, good texture, easy to make and easy to change up by adding other flavours. Be aware that it takes longer to cook than indicated -- about five minutes pre-slicing and also post-slicing. I would suggest making five loaves rather than four as the smaller loaves cook more evenly and as easier to cut. And as someone else suggested: well-floured hands are the key to success! Anise extract is impossible to find where I live, so I used 2 tsp of vanilla, 1 tsp of almond and 2 tsp of orange flower essence. Also added grated orange rind and chocolate chunks to some loaves.

Thank you! This recipe was wonderful. My husband and everyone at work enjoyed it. I used almond extract instead of anise extract. I put 2 teaspoons almond extract and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. I also added 1 cup of chopped chocolate chips. I dipped the final cookies in chocolate. They were great!!!!!

I made these for Christmas gifts and everyone requested the recipe. This was the best biscotti I've ever had. I used almond extract instead of anise and added craisins and walnuts and dipped the bottoms of the finished cookies in melted white almond bark.

I've been making this base recipe for the past three years, usually for Christmas. This is an excellent recipe and I thank the author profusely for posting it...I've received many compliments! Because I don't care for anise, I use two tsp of almond extract in addition to the two tsp vanilla and, for varied flavor and texture, I've used toasted, finely-chopped walnuts. I also coat the bottoms with semi-sweet chocolate. A few hints...if you find it difficult to work with the dough, simply place between two sheets of waxed paper to roll/shape your logs. You can then simply drop it on to your parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Also, melting chocolate on a dinner plate makes it very easy to sweep the bottom of the cookie with chocolate...simply place on waxed paper-lined cookie sheets and cool. When attending holiday parties, placing six of these biscotti in a decorated goody bag tied with a red ribbon makes a wonderful hostess gift. Also great to give to teachers, neighbors, postal carrier, etc. I simply adore this recipe. This recipe is simple, but if you're not familiar with working with biscotti, be patient. They are SO worth it!!! Enjoy!!

I've made Biscotti once before and it didn't turn out well. This however is great! Besides the bulk of ingredients and the time it took to make and the gazillion cookies I have now, It was wonderful. The taste of the biscotti with a nice cup of coffee out weighs all of the above.

Very good recipe. For all of you new biscotti bakers who are having problems with sticky unworkable dough... you MUST refrigerate the dough after making it for at least 2-3 hours so that it is workable and so it bakes properly. I have been making these for 30 years and was taught to make these by a lovely Italian immigrant.

Excellent recipe! The butter makes it more tender than a traditional biscotti and I like the large batch it makes because they are gobbled up so fast around our house. Here's a tip if you don't like slicing the logs: My non-baker husband while trying to help me finish the task of slicing the baked logs picked up the metal spatula next to the pan, instead of walking over to get a knife and I thought for sure he was going to smash the cookies to crumbs but the spatula worked beautifully. It cuts cleaner than a knife, doesn't leave the crumbs a knife does and is easier to use!

This is a fabulous recipe! This was my first Biscotti recipe and it was easy as pie :) My slight mod's were I swapped Almond extract inplace of Anise because my husband hates liquourice flavor, added some crushed walnuts because I was low on almonds, and added near a cup extra of flour due to sticky dough. One thing I realized during the cooking process...the 2nd half of the dough was left to sit while the first batch baked. After that the dough was not sticky and became very managable. Perhaps letting the dough sit for a bit before making the logs (still with the extra flour however) would help with the sticky problem. I dipped some tips in chocolate.

This was my first time making biscotti. This recipe was simple to put together, and is absolutely delicious! Even my husband (who hates biscotti)loved these! I didn't have anise flavoring or almonds, so I substituted pecans. I made a simple cinnamon glaze to drizzle over it. (1/2 cup confec. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 TBSP butter, 2 TBSP milk). Try it!

This recipe makes the BEST biscotti ever! I did substitute almond extract for the anise as some other reviewers suggested, and tried several variations such as half white and half brown sugar, added a couple drops of vanilla, added dried cranberries, added walnuts, added slivered almonds, tried dried bluberries, etc. A good basic recipe that you can play around with and make your own by what you add to it or the combinations you come up with. Also drizzled/dipped some pieces in chocolate and white chocolate. Excellent...thanks for submitting!

This is the craziest recipe I've ever tried. Do not try to alter the serving which you can see at the bottom of the recipe page. or else you'll come up with something mushy, crumbly, yuck thing! But i'm not a sore loser, i'll try to do it again, and when i perfect this biscotti, i might just change my mind about the rating.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe. I always make these for Christmas gifts. Here are my favorite variations: 1.Add pistachios and craisins to the dough and (after baking and completely cooling)dip bottoms in melted white chocolate. 2. Add pecans and grated orange peel and dip bottoms in melted dark chocolate. 3. Add sliced almonds and toasted coconut and dip bottoms in milk chocolate. I put two of each flavor in a clear cellophane bag and tie with a ribbon. Very Yummy!

After taking the loaves out of the oven, let them cool down for at least 15 minutes before cutting and after the final baking, turn the oven off and leave the cookies in the oven to completely cool, with the oven door ajar. This will make them nice and crispy

I was so impressed at how these turned out. They looked exactly like biscotti that you get in fancy coffee shops, and since I had never made them before, I was really pleased. This makes a big batch - 2 friends and I had a bake-fest before Christmas and we all got quite a good share out of it. I'll do this one again for sure.

This was my first time making bicotti, and unfortunately I was a little disappointed. They were not hard and crunchy, s they did not soak up much coffee. The taste is good, but more like a shortbread, not like boscotti should taste. I would definately toast the almonds, they taste a little raw in the cookie. These are however, easy to make and are palatable. But I will keep looking for another recipe that really knocks our socks off.

Wasted 6 eggs, 6 cups of flour and 3 sticks of butter! Recipe doesn't say to use parchment paper or to grease the cookie sheets. They were in the oven for around 10 minutes and the bottoms were burnt, my oven was smoking. What a disaster! Something in the recipe can't be right!

This recipe actually makes 30 biscotti PER LOG- a total of 120! My count was more like 25 per log or 100 cookies per recipe.

This is a very easy to follow recipe. My family is Italian, so we have been making biscotti is some form or another for a long time. I'm not really an anise fan, so I replaced that with almond essence and it worked a treat. As a hint, it's best to leave the loaves for about 5 minutes before slicing them so that they firm up a bit. Additionally, use a bread knife to cut them into pieces. It slices through much easier. We dipped a couple of them in Nutella at the end and also put strawberry jam on them!!! Soooo delicious. Still, I'm a fan of the traditional dipping in wine or coffee :)

This was really great. I too omitted the anise and used more almond extract as Im not too crazy about anise, they are awesome. Gave to our Biscotti loving pal and she thought it was the best shes had..she felt this even before we told her I made it. :) Only thing is, Im not sure if it was my oven or not,it took much longer to "toast" than the recipe said. A+++

So good!! Very authentic recipe. I wouldn't change a thing to the recipe.

Fantastic, I used almond extract in place of the anise (I'm the only Italian in the world that doesn't like anise) but kept true to the rest of the recipe and it was delicious, I like a more tender biscotti, and this does have a tender texture, with my small change, this is it, the family biscotti recipe for now on, thank you so much for this wonderful cookie!!!

This recipe was excellent! I also experimented a bit with it, adding a teaspoon of almond extract instead of anise extract, and also swapping out a cup of flour for a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. It seems to make the dough a little thicker, but it tastes great!

This recipe is *wonderful*. I made two small changes: I ran out of butter and had to add shortening to make up, and it still came out wonderfully. Also, I added just a bit of anise seeds, which I felt added to the flavor. Delicious! I will definitely make this again ... tonight, actually!

YUM!!! Made 4 different flavors: the original recipe (with almond and vanilla extracts instead of anise), original with Grand Marnier and orange zest, original with dried cranberries and walnuts, and original with chocolate chips. I also melted a combination of semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips and coated half of each cookie. Now all you need is a cup of hot coffee for dippin'...

I followed the recipe but added more almonds (toasted) about 1 cup of slivered and subsituted almond flavoring for the anise and added the anise seed (1 tbsp). Don't be discouraged because the dough is sticky, it will bake up nicely. These were not the rock hard type I've eaten before, thankfully, but when toasted are firm and dunkable. I increased the second baking to 10 minutes which was about 1 minute too long, but it was in a convection oven. My husband loves these and he is very picky when it comes to biscotti. Not too sweet. I'll be baking these alot! Just watch the second toasting time. Good luck.

This is one of many biscotti recipes I have tried and the most requested by family and friends. I've found that no matter how much flour I add, the dough is just too sticky to knead and roll into logs. I just gave up and started spooning the dough in a log shape onto the cookie sheets instead. Messy, but effective. I also omit the anise extract and use almond in its place. This recipe makes a large amount and slices very nicely. Not too crumbly like others I have tried. I do have to bake them much longer than the recipe suggests the second time, but it's well worth it in the end. Have made this many, many times, and sure I will make it many more!

This recipe was awesome. Very minimal work and my son could help me with the mixing. They are wonderful tasting and are a cookie I will continue to make year round. I toasted my sliced cookies for approx. 10 mins on each side. I don't care for anise but these were great. The anise taste was not overwelming. Great recipe Bernie!!

My daughter chose to make this for extra credit for her living skills class. I was hesitant because I am not a good "bread" maker. This recipe was so easy to follow and it came out tasting amazing. She was so excited to get to take this to school and have her classmates try it. And we were glad that she made too much so that we could enjoy it with our cocoa/coffee this morning. Well written and turned out fabulous. Delicious!

I made these with only pure almond extract, added dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks. Excellent. Nice and crunchy/hard too. Some I dipped 1/2 in chocolate and some I drizzled with chocolate. Very yummy and an excellent recipe and instructions! Thanks.

I found this recipe this week and have already made them twice. This is by far one of the best biscotti recipes in my collection. After the first bake instead of laying them flat and baking a few minutes on both sides, I simply stand them up and just bake them again once.

Easy to make, easy to store, taste great! My friends alway get fascinated when they get this exotic treat. However, I always double the amount of anise extract. I find the original a little too plain, but with doubled anise, they taste wonderful!

I had never made biscotti before and tried this recipe for my first attempt... it came out so well! I followed the directions and ingredient list exactly with the exception of adding about half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Thanks to whoever suggested working with the dough with well-floured hands on a well-floured surface... that helped a LOT!

Terrific recipe. I dipped the edge of half in melted dark chocolate. I took the advice of using a dough hook on my mixer. Very easy.

Excellent & so very easy!! I, like some of the other posters, subbed almond extract for the anise & I upped the almonds: I used a cup of slivered & another cup of sliced almonds. Added a crunch to it as well as extra taste. I also added dark, sweet dried cherries to the mix (8 oz). Big hit wherever I have brought them. Thanks for posting this recipe.

This is a good basic biscotti recipe. I like to make variations to this recipe such as adding cocoa and chocolate chips. When I use this particular one, sometimes I will dip half of the biscotti in some white chocolate. Be aware though, this recipe makes TONS of biscotti. Try cutting it in half or maybe in fourths.

This was dynamite! The first time I made them, I did a double batch & sent some to my friend in AZ. She loved them & she's a big holiday baker. Didn't have anise extract, but almond extract worked fine. Substituted Egg Beaters for some of the eggs to reduce cholesterol. My husband said it's his favorite biscotti from all the ones I've made!

Very good recepie, however, not enough flavour. Need more of anise, maybe double.

The biscotti came out somewhat soft and I don't know if that's just the way the recipe is or if I made the error. I had to keep putting them back in the oven to try and make them crunchy but it didn't work. I also left out the anise and used almond extract. The flavor was good. I guess I was hoping for a Starbucks biscotti.

This recipe was very easy! I don't have a stand up mixer so I was nervous but hand kneading wasn't as bad as I thought. Next time I think that I will make them longer though.

My father is Italian and he is very picky about Biscotti. He loved these and told me not to lose the recipe and not to go playing with it and mess it up! :)They are the best he has had in years. I was thrilled. Thank you!!

This was my first attempt at making biscotti and it came out wonderful! The only change I made was to use 2 tsp of anise and 1 tsp of vanilla extracts. Everyone loved this and wanted the recipe!

Fabulous recipe! My very Italian uncle hasn't stopped raving about them. Thanks for sharing!

This is a great recipe. I have been making this for the last 5 years. I do add other things like dried fruit and other nuts. Yummy! I have been requested to make these every year.

Very good, basic biscotti recipe. I wouldn't add MORE almonds than the recipe calls for. . they may get hard to cut. They're very pretty too. We liked them best dunked in something hot.

My mom told me this recipe is very similar to my full Italian grandmother's biscotti recipe. They came out great. I brought them to an office breakfast and the whole tray was inhaled. I needed to toast the cookies longer than suggested in the recipe and I could've toasted them longer which I think I'll do next time. It does make a lot of cookies.

very easy recipe to follow. it was very sticky but worked with it using well floured hands. i used anise oil instead of the extract. i have never found extract to be tasteful in anything i've baked. it cooked great and i used chocolate hershey bars melted, dipping one end in the chocolate. very good recipe.

Absolutely love this recipe so easy! I also melt chocolate almond bark and dip the flat side of them in the chocolate. HUGE HIT - and if i want to get fancy i melt white chocolate or white choc. almond bark and fill a squeeze bottle to make fancy white drizzles over the dark chocolate. I take them to baby/bridal showers all the time.

Just not right... I had to add more flour to be able to work with the dough. 25mins. was not long enough for the center to cook (maybe my oven?) so I ended up with too-hard outer layers and too-soft centers. They tasted more like sugar cookies than the biscotti my Grandmother used to make. I'll try other recipes.

This is great. The texture is perfect and It's easy to change around to suit your taste.

This is a very nice Biscotti recipe, wonderful for gift giving. I had my room mate knead the dough for me, I think the added man strength that went into the kneading process helped to make this recipe such a success. I used two teaspoons of licorice liqueur instead of the extract and only one teaspoon of vanilla extract, the taste is mild, not too sweet, with a melt in your mouth texture.

Changed it to all vanilla extract, and used chocolate chips instead of almonds. Baked them for 10 minutes each side. Made 90 cookies. Will make great additions to my Christmas Cookie Plates.

I substituted for almond extract instead and didn't mix in the almonds.. next time I think i will though.

Not bad at all, I think dipping them in chocolate would make them even better.

i have made biscotti according to this recipe several times now, and every time, people absolutely love it! they say it is the best food i've made yet. i have you to thank for that!

This is an amazing recipe and easy. I used vanilla extract only and finely chopped walnuts. I mixed it in a Bosch so it was well kneaded. The biscuits cut smoothly and didn't crumble when transferred to the baking sheet. Toasted to a light brown. Dipped bottoms of cookies in melted semi sweet chocolate chips. Yum.

This is a good, simple recipe. These are my mum's favourite and I've made them a few times for her. I like cutting them into small delicate slices so they look like pretty little biscuits.

New to baking, I've tried a few biscotti recipes. This is, by far, the best one! My boyfriend is upset because I made most of them for customers christmas gifts. I'll need to make more for home.

It's just the right sweetness . . . men love it . .

This recipe was wonderful. It was easy to make, and none of the ingredients were found outside the common ones found in my kitchen. I ommited the annise extract, added chocolate chips instead of almonds, and "second baked" them longer than suggested. I love this recipe because it is incredibly versitile. I will definatly make it again

Excellent receipe! However, anise flavoring isn't for everyone so I replace it with 2-tsps of almond extract and 1-tsp of vanilla. When the Biscotti has cooled I dip one side in chocolate and place that chocolate side up on a tray with wax paper, then drizzle with white chocolate. Then they go into the fridge for about 10 minutes to harden. I do this with half the batch and leave half the batch plain. It's a big, big hit whenever I make it. I feel so lucky to have come across this recipe. So easy too! Thanks

Brilliant recipe everyone loves them! I added some bits to it too tho... small bag of revels and maltesers and some dried fruit and pecan nuts.. yummy!!!!!

really great recipe that I will use again and again.

I love these! The very first kind of biscotti's I've ever made! They turned out great! Yummy! = D I made them for my dance class, and family, they loved them!

Really good recipe, didn't change a thing. Was a bit softer than I like my Biscotti, definately softer than my Nonna made-- but really tasty anyway!

Made these tonight. One batch with craisins and another with mini morsels. Ran out of Anise so used orange extract - when it comes to Biscotti - Anise makes it truly better. The logs were really sticky so I had to use extra flour to knead the dough. Overall: these were really good typical Italian Biscotti - not too sweet nor to chewy. Will make these many times over but with Anise.

the best so far. not sweet just perfect. i don't like anise sub it to almond extract. thank you for sharing your recipe.

These were a big hit with my family for Christmas!

First time making it and it was a great sucess. I like the taste of anise in recipe and I added almonds and cranberries.

Great biscotti. Thanks, Bernie.

wonderful! I have tried to make biscotti before and never mastered the texture. These are amazing. You can substitute almond extract for the anise.

This takes a little while to get the hang of it, however it is great. I gave them out as christmas goodie gifts and everyone loved them.

this is the best biscotti - I made it dozens of times with variations on extract flavors, different types of nuts, dried cranberry or other dried fruits, chocolate chips, etc. Everyone loves it -including all my Italian friends.

This recipe was really good. The texture was great. I used 2 tsp. almond extract and 1 tsp. vanilla extract---instead of the anise. But I felt that it needed more extract. Next time I will use 3 tsp. or more almond extract.

I just made this recipe and loved it. My husband and family thinks it one of the best I have ever made. Thanks!!

I have tried many Biscotti recipes and none seemed to turn out as good as my late mother in laws. This recipe is actually easier and much better taste. Works great with pecans too. Raylene Italiano Ellwood City, PA

I have tried several biscotti recipes and this one is the best!!!

Absolutely GORGEOUS!! I made it within seconds of reading about it, and made it in 15 minutes and left it to cook to the exact guidlines given and voila it was PERFECT, three minutes ago I tasted it for the first time and enjoyed it thouraghly with Coffee. Thank-you very much for the wonderful recipe!

This is an amazing recipe - something that everyone should try! I made them last night - I started at 8:30 and by 10 my fiance and I were dunking them into tea as a late night snack. So easy and delicious! Great as a gift - will definetly make again! Thank you so much for this recipe!

So pretty, with a fine texture and gentle flavoring. Like other reviewers, I lined the baking sheets with parchment and swapped 1/3 of the flour for whole wheat. My resulting dough was too soft to knead, so I simply floured my hands and 'shaped' the loaves instead. Following more advice; I let the loaves stand for 5 minutes before slicing (it firmed them up a bit) and stood the slices up for the second baking (avoiding the need to flip each cookie). This is an outstanding recipe - Thank you for posting it!

These were great! Very flavorful, deliciously crunchy yet tender. I did use almond extract instead of the anise, and I also toasted the almonds before adding them to the dough. They were a big hit at our Italian themed dinner and my husband said it was the best biscotti he had ever had! Thank you for the recipe!

This is the most delicious biscotti ever! I added dried cherries and golden raisens for a variation.

The best traditional biscotti recipe I have tried. I get compliments every time I bake these cookies.They turn out perfect every time.

These always turn out. The recipe is also forgiving. Have fun and try mixing in white chocolate and dried cranberry's.

Loved these cookies, couldn't stop eating them! Recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks.

Made it for the holidays. Decorated with dark choc drizzle and crushed pecans. Super recipe.

Added two handfuls of choc. chips and a small bag of dried cherries and the poeple at work were in love with this!!!

Don't know what the problem was, but I had to add alot of extra flour because the dough was a sticky mess. Also, they never crisped up enough in the oven, even when I left them in way past the recommended cooking time. The flavor was excellent, but just too crumbly. I am hoping they will crisp up after a day or 2. Also, I used sliced almonds because that is what I am used to - I don't recommend that. Definitely stick with chopped.

I am giving these away for Christmas gifts. I'm glad to have such a perfect recipe so I can made these myself instead of buying them.

I made these as Christmas gifts several years ago, and people still are talking about it! These rival the pricey ones you get in the coffee shops. Along with the Peppermint and Brownie Biscotti from this site also, made for beautiful gifts that were very enthusiastically received.

Absolutely delicious! My husband and I both loved it! I am one of those curious types that doesn't like nuts in things, so I pressed sliced almonds into the top of both logs instead of mixing the nuts in. Thanks for sharing!

Delicious and looks fabulous (looks professionally made) when drizzled with white chocolate. Decadent! Thanks for a great recipe! Followed the recipe as written (which was perfect), but can see how this would be very versatile, and I'll be trying it with new things!

I cut the recipe in half, but followed it with all the ingredients as listed. I'm not a big anise fan, but the flavor is not overwhelming and helps to create a very authentic biscotti. I did use my stand mixer instead of kneading by hand. The cook times were a bit long, even for the smaller versions I made, so they might go long for the standard size biscotti. I will make this recipe again.

Absolutely wonderful! I followed the receipe exactly as given and the results were unbelievable. Everyone loved them, and they were even better the next day. After adding the flour, I used the dough blades on my mixer - big help!