Spiced Biscotti
Date Completed: 9/12/2021
Today I’m baking from my Baking Illustrated cookbook for the first time (at least, the first time for this project). I have a multi-page butter stain to prove that this cookbook has been fully broken in over the years. I’m trying my hand at the Spiced Biscotti from the Cookies, Brownies & Bar Cookies chapter.
I love the Baking Illustrated cookbook because every recipe comes with at least a half-page description of the recipe and all the various tests that were done during recipe development. It’s so interesting to me to read about all the failures/lessons learned that got them to this final result.
We’d been wanting to do a biscotti recipe, and the simple Spiced Biscotti recipe variation really appealed to us. I learned how biscotti recipes either have whole eggs only, eggs and butter, or egg whites only. The cookbook explained that the most traditional recipes contained whole eggs only. These were supposed to have the longest shelf life and the “cleanest delivery of the flavorings.”
The spice in the cookies came from white pepper, ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. My first culinary experience with white pepper!
After combining the dry ingredients, I whisked the eggs and sugar. Then I folded the two together with some vanilla.
To me this dough seemed more like a batter. I struggled with the formation of two “loaves” on a baking sheet. Ultimately a spatula did the trick to spread out the sticky dough.
This was a lot easier to handle after the first bake!
Do you know what 3/8-inch-thick slices look like? I laughed at the specificity of that measurement in this recipe. I did my best at making them an even thickness, but they probably could have been a little slimmer. About halfway through I went and got the tape measure to compare. Next time I’ll do better!
After slicing these cookies went back into a slightly cooler oven for their second bake. I liked the fact that I could pack a bunch onto a single sheet without worrying they’d spread out.
The house smelled lovely by this point!
Taste Report:
Texture-wise, these spiced biscotti had serious crunch. They were very crumbly and messy to eat! I’m not a coffee person so I never did the dunking, but I’m sure that would have been lovely.
Although I enjoyed the spice, I almost think the biscotti weren’t quite rich enough for me. Without any butter, I did agree with the recipe’s assessment that the flavors were quite clean.
The shelf life of the cookies impressed me: they lasted for a month with just about the same characteristics. Apparently butter would have made them taste better initially but go stale much more quickly.
Mess Report:
The mess wasn’t too bad in terms of dishes! This recipe doesn’t even require you to haul out the stand mixer or a hand mixer.
I did have to get a crumble photo from the original slicing between the first and second bake. Cleaning those up off the counter was the messiest part of this process!
My final assessment is that I would absolutely make biscotti again. I’d be really curious how a recipe with butter would taste. And whether the dough would be as sticky!
I had too much fun stacking the cookies for these photos!