An extraordinary course in real Italian cooking, from basic Stepping-Stone recipes to more complex dishes for special occasions.Grace Pilato was born in a Sicilian mountain village. From her close knit family, she learned to make the homey, traditional dishes of her mother country-- and the joys of preparing and eating them together. Now a popular cooking instructor and an accomplished potter, Grace brings her talents, knowledge, and love of Italian cooking to this unusually useful
My sister Mariella and I spent some time together perfecting this biscotti recipe. She is the best baker of the family, probably because her husband has the sweetest tooth! We make these cookies throughout the year but always around the holidays, having them ready to serve to friends. They are a crisp biscotti, wonderful to dunk in a cup of coffee or tea, a glass of milk, or Vin Santo. Children love making these and giving them as gifts to teachers and special friends, Try them in place of the traditional all-American chocolate chip cookie--much less fat and sugar!
1 cup almonds, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
Egg wash (1 egg and 1 teaspoon water, beaten together)
Arrange one oven rack on the bottom shelf and the other on the second from the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute until combined. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and orange zest and beat until incorporated.
Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate, medium bowl. Add this mixture to the egg and butter mixture 1/4 at a time, mixing at low speed. Fold in the chopped almonds by hand.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and form two logs about 2 inches wide and 9 inches long. The dough will be thick and sticky. To aid in forming the logs, dust your hands with flour often. Place the logs on the cookie sheet about 4 inches apart brush the top of each log with egg wash.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden but not brown. The logs will spread out considerably. Cool for 10 minutes and cut with a serrated knife into 1/2-inch diagonal slices. The biscotti can be eaten now, at this softer stage, or toasted. If toasting, arrange cut-sides down on a plain unlined cookie sheet and continue to bake for about another 10 to 15 minutes, until toasted, drying the inside of the cookies. Cool the biscotti on a wire rack.
Since this is such a wonderful base recipe for biscotti
I suggest these variations: Use toasted skinned hazelnuts, pine nuts, pecans, or walnuts, instead of the almonds.
Add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, to make chocolate biscotti.
Add about 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots.
Add about 1 cup golden raisins or currants, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained.
Add 1/2 to 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips.
Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.
Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon orange extract.
Add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.
Dip the baked biscotti in melted chocolate to coat all or part of the cookie.
Drizzle the tops of the baked biscotti with melted chocolate or sugar glaze.
Use lemon rind in place of the orange rind.
NOTES Thoroughly cooked, twice-baked biscotti can be stored in an airtight container for several months. If you choose not to toast them, they should be eaten within a couple of days or frozen in reclosable plastic freezer bags. Biscotti freeze well and will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months.
