Something to munch on...hazelnut biscotti

I consider learning how to make biscotti one of my earliest accomplishments from starting this blog.  I'm a big fan and used to buy them all the time from the supermarket and order them at coffee shops.  When I tried making them at home and realized it was actually easy (and far tastier than the ones you buy), I was thrilled! 

So ever since then, I bake biscotti pretty regularly.  It's just one of those lighter treats I like to make, to have something crunchy around the house to munch on.  My sister loves it too and I like to make some to share with her if she's around.  We both love our biscotti super crunchy (unlike my husband who is definitely more a dunker and a soft-cookie lover in general).  So when I make biscotti, I go with traditional recipes that do not call for butter.  We just  prefer them super dry and with plenty of nuts.

This time, I made a very simple, plain hazelnut biscotti.  It's a recipe from Alice Medrich that I found in Baking with Julia.  We recently went to Washington, D.C. during Spring Break and I got a chance to peek into Julia Child's kitchen at one of the Smithsonian museums.  That inspired me to check out some of Julia's cookbooks from the library and this recipe caught my attention because unlike other recipes I've made where I start the process with the standmixer, this can be done by hand, very quickly and simply.  I call it "two-bowl biscotti" because it's very much like a muffin recipe where you mix the dry ingredients into the wet and you're halfway there.

Not everyone in my extended family is a big dessert lover but I find that biscotti works for those who prefer something less decadent.  I like serving it with coffee after dinner, like we did this past Saturday night.  But I rarely serve biscotti alone - that night, some homemade mint gelato (and lemon sorbet) joined us at the table too.  It's always nice to have options, right?

Here's to crunchy foods and homemade meals shared with good company!

As promised, this is a two-bowl, no-machine-required, recipe.  I followed the recipe in making the dough but made a few changes along the way...don't you feel a little guilty when you follow a recipe but don't quite follow it fully?

I made a half batch, which yielded roughly 18 cookies.  I usually end up with less biscotti than the recipe says I'll get.  I suppose I make mine larger or somewhat thicker than intended. 

I used a little more toasted hazelnuts than the recipe requires and instead of baking the sliced cookies on a cooling rack as suggested, I did it the conventional way by lying them on my baking sheet and just flipping them over halfway through baking.  To me, that's just as easy, if not easier.

Making the biscotti dough is simply whisking the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another (the bowl holding the nuts doesn't count, right!).

Use a wooden spoon to stir the dry ingredients into the wet or get your clean hands into the bowl and work the dough together.  It's now done and ready to be shaped into a log for the first baking!  I really think finding skinned hazelnuts is where the heavy-lifting is for this recipe.

I did want to mention that aside from how simple this recipe is, I also found it interesting that baking soda, rather than powder, is used here.  Alice Medrich says it's that very baking soda that gives the biscotti the open, crunchy texture, and I suppose that's why we can quickly mix the whole thing together by hand.  It's interesting because I'm used to adding baking powder and whipping the egg and wet ingredients in the mixer first to aerate and lighten up the batter to create that open texture.  This is surely a big time savings.

I like to keep my biscotti simple most of the time but the option of dipping or drizzling them in some dark chocolate is always lurking in the background...one day, I know I'll succumb to the urge.  I know my little one wants me to. 

Recipe:

Hazelnut Biscotti

Adapted from Alice Medrich's recipe featured in Baking with Julia

- Makes 2 logs, as much as 4 dozen biscotti (or more like 3 dozen if you're me) -  

1 cup hazelnuts, skinned and toasted, then coarsely chopped

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons hazelnut liqueur, such as Frangelico

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In another larger bowl, whisk the eggs, liqueur, vanilla and sugar together until well combined and slightly frothy.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet.  Stir together with a wooden spoon to combine.  Add nuts and mix until just incorporated.  If the dough is too stiff, you can also reach in and use clean hands to bring the dough together.

Lightly flour your hands and lift out half the dough.  Set it on one side of a baking sheet, pat it out, and shape it into about a 12-inch long log.  (I find that wetting your hands with a little bit of water also helps with the stickness and makes it easier to smooth out the dough.)  Repeat with the other half of the dough and set the second log about 3 inches apart from the first.  Bake the logs for 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.  The logs should be dry and golden.  Remove from the oven and set baking sheet on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes to cool.

Turn oven temperature down to 300 degrees and position the racks to the top and bottom third of the oven.

Once the logs are cool enough to handle, slice the logs into about 1/2-inch thick slices, either straight across or on the diagonal.  Lay the biscotti on 2 baking sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes, flipping the biscotti over about halfway through the baking time.  The biscotti are done when they are golden and feel dry to the touch.  Remove from the oven and let cool completely on cooling racks.

Biscotti are excellent for keeping around the house for munching since you don't have to worry about them going dry.  Once completely cooled, store biscotti in an airtight container for up to a month.