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Biscotti. Biscotti - Biscotti dry biscuits simple recipe

Italian biscotto (Biscotto) or biscotti (more often they are spoken of in the plural) is known, without exaggeration, to everyone. It's not easy, it can easily be called a symbol of the vast world of cookies. True, outside of Italy, including in our country, the term biscotti is not used quite correctly. Italians use it to refer to all types of dry, crispy pastries in various shapes, sizes and flavors. We mean only one variety, which in the republic is called cantuccini (cantuccini), cantucci (cantucci) or biscotti from Prato (Biscotti di Prato).

Therefore, the question that some people have, “what is the difference between biscotti and cantucci?”, in their homeland will seem ridiculous. Cantucci is a variant of biscotti, and in our understanding, it is generally the same pastry.

The cantucci recipe appeared relatively recently - in, presumably in 1691 in Prato. And biscotti, like dry and long-stored pastries, were born back in. They were made for soldiers going on long marches. Unleavened cakes, seasoned with almonds, after cooking, baked again to remove residual moisture. Hence the name Biscotti, which means "twice-baked". The shelf life of such a delicacy was so long that the philosopher Pliny the Elder (Plinius Maior) once boasted that they would be edible for several centuries. When the Roman Empire collapsed, biscuits disappeared with it until the Renaissance period.

Dear reader, to find an answer to any question about holidays in Italy, use. I answer all questions in the comments under the relevant articles at least once a day. Your guide in Italy Artur Yakutsevich.

Once unleavened bun Tuscan bakers filled with new flavors. They added aniseed vodka, lemon, various spices to the dough. Almonds entered the composition of cookies later, and then other nuts and dried fruits began to be used, as well as raisins, figs, dates and quince. The most daring chefs added chocolate pieces to the taste of biscotti.

In the 19th century, Antonio Mattei (confectioner from Prato) put an end to the search for the best option cantucci, developing a recipe that has become a classic. He has received many awards at exhibitions in Italy and abroad. He received special appreciation at the world exhibition in Paris in 1867. His shop "Mattonella" still exists today in Prato and is considered the place of "keeping the tradition of cantucci".

Description

Biscotti have a traditional elongated shape, obtained by cutting the baked dough diagonally. The surface of the cookies is golden with inclusions whole almonds. The length can be different, but, as a rule, does not exceed 10 cm.

Cantucci dough is made from flour, sugar, eggs, almonds and butter. Sometimes sugar in the recipe is replaced with honey, and butter- olive. Unroasted almonds are used in baking. Traditionally, cantucci is served with another Tuscan delicacy, Brutti ma Buoni.

Sometimes under the name "Biscotti di Prato" you can find not quite classic version. It can be either one of the many versions of cantucci, or a fake of the original variety. The latter is often characterized by the absence of oil and the presence of a large number of flavors.

Recipes

One of the Italian desserts that you can easily prepare is cantucci, a sweet treat with a taste of home comfort. In Italy, it is traditionally accompanied by a glass of Santo wine or served at the end of a meal.

There are many versions of biscotti di Prato. For example, the option with pistachios. But original recipe This cookie only includes almonds.

Classical

To make classic cantucci you will need:

Flour - 400 g;
Eggs - 3 pcs.;
Baking powder (baking powder) - 0.5 sachet;
Sugar - 100 g;
Almonds - 100 g;
Salt - a pinch.

To knead the dough, you need to prepare the work surface. Wash and dry a table or large cutting board in advance. We pour a hill of flour on it, at the top of which we make a large depression. We send baking powder, sugar, salt and eggs there. Mix everything thoroughly with your hands. The result is a very elastic, soft mass. If the dough turned out to be tight, then add a little milk, if it is liquid, add a handful of flour. you love more delicate pastries? Then add 15 g of melted butter to the mass.

Roast the almonds lightly in a pan or in the oven. The process should only take a few minutes, as the nuts will come to readiness when baked in the dough.

Add the prepared almonds to the resulting mass and mix until the nuts are evenly distributed. Finally, we form long and narrow loaves. Their width does not exceed 3 cm.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, and cover the baking sheet parchment paper, on which we distribute the loaves of dough. We bake for about 20 minutes. As soon as they begin to harden, take out and cut into pieces about 2 cm thick.

Almost ready biscotti di Prato is again sent to the oven, but already for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool completely. Your cantucci will diversify the daily menu or become a wonderful aperitif for wine on the festive table.

From Yulia Vysotskaya

The famous actress and part-time television chef also did not do without a recipe for Italian biscotti. Her version has additional ingredients.

So, for biscotti from Yulia Vysotskaya you will need:

Flour - 200 g;
Sugar - 125 g;
Lemon - 2 pcs.;
Eggs - 2 pcs. and separately 1 yolk;
Almonds - 65 g;
Butter - 2 tbsp. spoons;
Pecan nuts - 65 g;
Baking powder - 0.5 tbsp. spoons;
Corn or buckwheat flour- 1.5 tbsp. spoons.

First, beat the eggs and yolk with a whisk until the volume doubles. Combine flour with baking powder. Grind part of the nuts into small crumbs. In a deep bowl, mix the prepared ingredients, add the zest and 1 tbsp. spoon lemon juice, melted butter, whole nuts and cornmeal. Knead the dough and form one long and wide loaf about 2 cm high.

Bake in an oven preheated to 150 degrees for about 40 minutes. Cut into slices, which are dried at 180 degrees until the cantucci crust is browned. Let the cake cool down and enjoy biscotti from Yulia Vysotskaya, accompanied by a cup of coffee.

calories

Like other sweet treats, biscotti is enough high-calorie product. 100 g of dessert contains about 430 kcal, consisting of:

Proteins 8.3 g;
Fats 12.6 g;
Carbohydrates 70.5 g

Most of nutritional value due to the presence of sugar and almonds, so cookies are far from the diet of people who lead a healthy lifestyle, or, conversely, who have problems with being overweight. Although the cholesterol content in cantucci is relatively low - about 17 mg per 100 g.

Even the diet version without butter contains about 400 kcal. Therefore, if you can eat 2-3 cantuchias and stop, then this will be a great option for your body. If your dose of biscotti is a pack of 250 g, then it is better not to store cookies in your pantry.

On this story about the famous cookie came to an end. Without a doubt, homemade baking has no equal. But in order to bring the taste of your biscotti to the ideal, you just need to try the original in his homeland. Hurry to Italy, live boldly, joke soberly and remember: “There is no smoke without fire, and biscotti without a second roast!”

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According to historians, the first Italian biscotti was made in the 13th century in the Tuscan city of Prato. As it turned out, cookies are an ideal product that can be stored for a long time and get enough of them well. During sea voyages, each ship had a supply of biscuits that could be fed to sailors at any time. No wonder biscotti was considered the favorite cookie of Christopher Columbus, who ate it on his long voyages.

Biscotti are traditional Italian cookies. In translation, biscotti means "baked twice" (bi - two and scottare - oven). Delicious cookies are prepared in two stages, first something like a “loaf” is baked, then cut into pieces and baked again. In Italy, there are a lot of options for biscotti. Almost every region, and sometimes a city or village, has its own recipe. The classic recipe is almond biscotti. But there are many variations with other ingredients (chocolate, dried fruit, coffee…) Due to its dryness, biscotti is served with dessert wine in Italy, coffee or tea in America. You can improvise, both with filling for biscotti, and with drinks in which biscotti can be dipped.

Absolutely flawless just such, how I love. And I can eat them...
Here "no less and no more" turned out. Ideal. What you wanted.
And there is nothing to be afraid of. As it turned out in the end... it's beautifully simple. The main thing is to do everything "according to the instructions."

Ingredients

for 40 pieces Has already

Flour - 400 g
Sugar - 200 g
Eggs - 4 pcs.
dough baking powder- 1 tsp
Dried cranberries - 50 g
Almonds - 150 g
vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Sea salt - 1 tsp

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Cranberries can be replaced with light raisins, I just don't really like raisins in baking.

1.

Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
Separate one egg into yolk and white. Set the protein aside.

In a bowl, whisk together 3 eggs + yolk, vanilla essence and one tablespoon of water with a fork.

2.

Roast the almonds in an oven preheated to 160 degrees. Ten minutes, until slightly brown. (Look!)
Remove, let cool and chop coarsely.

3.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour bowl and mix with your hands.
The dough is very dense! Do not be afraid. So be it.

Add almonds, cranberries and mix well again. Divide into three equal parts.

4.

Put on a surface sprinkled with flour and roll up such "sausages", four centimeters wide.

Place on a greased and floured baking sheet.
Leave some space between. Eight centimeters.
Whisk the remaining protein and spread it on the dough.

Place in a preheated oven at 180 for 30-35 minutes.
Until a confident crust. Stick a toothpick inside the dough, if it comes out dry, you're done.

5.

We take it out, let it cool (the main thing here is not to destroy them immediately!) And cut (with a sharp knife!) Across, into slices about 1 cm thick.

These Italian cookies are very easy to prepare at home, use raisins, dried apricots, prunes and nuts in cooking - the delicacy will come out famous!

To bake this Italian delicacy, you will not need exotic products, because it is not in vain that they say that everything ingenious is simple. For your convenience, the recipe is step by step and with a photo.

If not abused, then biscotti can even be beneficial for the body, thanks to the content of cranberries and almonds, rich in vitamins and minerals.

Almonds - 150 gr.
Chicken eggs - 4 pcs.
Wheat flour - 400 gr.
Cold boiled water - 1 tbsp.
Sugar - 1 cup (250 gr.)
Dried cranberries - 50 gr.
Vanillin (vanilla sugar) - 1 sachet.
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

To make it tastier, I strongly advise you to carefully sift the flour. I prefer to take iodized or edible sea salt, as it contains more useful substances than the usual one.

As for baking powder, it's pretty easy to make your own with 12 teaspoons. wheat flour or potato starch, 5 tsp soda and 3 tsp. citric acid. All this must be mixed properly, as a result, a mixture will be obtained that will last for a long time.

Eggs are very easy to check for freshness, place in a glass of water. good, fresh egg will go to the bottom, and the rotten one will hang out in the middle or even float up due to the hydrogen sulfide accumulated under the shell, the same gas that gives a characteristic unpleasant odor.

We separate a third of the nuts (50 gr.) And peel them from the skin, placing them in a saucer with boiling water for 10-15 minutes, which then drain.

The peel will come off very easily, just rub the almonds between your palms.

Now we need to dry the nuts, for this we cover a baking sheet with baking paper and pour the almonds there. Leave for 10 minutes at an oven temperature of 140-150 degrees.

Turn off the fire, cool the nuts and grind them with a knife or in any other convenient way (for example, in a mortar) into large pieces.

While the almonds are drying, you can do the dough. For him, you need to take 1 egg, dress the protein from the yolk and add the remaining 3 eggs to the yolk, it is better to take this particular type of egg. Leave the protein, as we will lubricate our biscotti with it. Add vanillin and a spoonful of water to the eggs, mix thoroughly. It is advisable to do this with a whisk.

The next step is to mix the sifted flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a separate bowl.

Turn on the oven until it warms up to 180 degrees, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.

We knead with our hands, gradually add chopped nuts - both dried and ordinary.

Pour the cranberry powder and mix very thoroughly to form a homogeneous mass.

Divide the dough into 3 equal ones.

Parts and from each we form a sausage. We cover the baking sheet with paper and lay out our blanks, grease them with whipped protein and leave for half an hour at 180 degrees.

Cut diagonally into pieces about 1 * 1 cm.

Place back in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and dry.

Cookies are ready, bon appetit!

As you can see, there is nothing complicated. You can change the recipe and add other nuts to the dough - walnuts, peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts. It turns out very tasty if you use spices - cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and various seeds, such as poppy, sesame, flaxseed or sunflower.

Recipe 2: Italian Biscotti with Chocolate and Cinnamon

The name of the popular Italian biscuit is translated as "twice-baked". This is because the biscuit is first baked in the shape of a log, and then cut into cookie pieces, which are dried in the oven.

Eggs - 1 pc.
Fine granulated sugar - 70 g
Flour - 120 g
Vanilla sugar - 1 sachet
Baking powder - 0.5 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Almonds - 50 g
Pine nuts - 50 g
Bitter chocolate - 50 g

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and grease with vegetable oil.

Cut the chocolate into small pieces and set aside.
To peel the almonds, pour boiling water over them, let stand for five minutes, drain the water. Then pour boiling water again, wait five minutes, drain the water. After this procedure, the skin is easily removed, you just need to lightly press on the nuts with two fingers.

Dry the almonds with paper towels and lightly fry in a frying pan without oil until golden brown. Stir all the time. Then cut into slices and set aside.

Whisk egg, sugar and vanilla sugar very well. Until the appearance of white foam.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, cinnamon and baking powder.

Sift flour with cinnamon and baking powder again, but into the egg mixture. Mix everything gently and thoroughly with a spatula. The dough is dense, but quite fluffy.

Stir in nuts and chopped chocolate.

Turn the dough over onto a floured surface. Form two sausages, 3-4 cm in diameter. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown. I bake in the top-bottom mode, without blowing.

Remove the tray from the oven and let cool for five minutes. We do not turn off the oven. Transfer the "sausages" to a cutting board and cut diagonally into pieces 1-1.5 cm thick.

Transfer these pieces back to the baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes in the oven. Then turn them over and bake for another 6 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. After that, put the biscotti on a wire rack or wooden board and leave to cool completely.

Store crackers in an airtight container or jar with a screw-top lid. 2 weeks are kept exactly.

Recipe 3, step by step: chocolate biscotti with nuts

Cookies are crispy, vaguely similar to crackers familiar to us. They are served with coffee, tea and even wine. They are great for a light snack or breakfast.

190g flour
150g sugar
60g butter at room temperature
40g cocoa
2 eggs
100g nuts (I have cashews)
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

From this amount of ingredients, 12-13 fairly large cookies are obtained. You can take any nuts. I like it best with cashews or hazelnuts. They are prepared quickly - together with baking it will take no more than an hour.

Coarsely chop the nuts.

Beat butter with sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly each time.

Add cocoa, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix with a mixer until smooth.

Add 100 g of flour to the chocolate mass, mix with a spoon and add the remaining 90 g.

The dough will be very thick.

Add nuts, mix.

Place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a mat.

We form a rectangle about 12 cm wide and 2 cm high and put in an oven preheated to 180C for 25-30 minutes. From finished cake the toothpick should come out dry.

Lay the crust out on a rack. Let it cool down to a temperature comfortable for the hands.

Cut it with a bread knife into thin slices 1 cm thick.

Put everything back on the baking sheet and dry for another 8-10 minutes.

That's all! Cookies are ready! Store it in a closed container (just be sure to cool completely before putting it away).

These chocolate hazelnut cookies are very good with milk! Although, of course, you can crunch them in a cup fragrant coffee or tea. Enjoy your meal!

Recipe 4: White Chocolate Almond Biscotti

This recipe contains raisins and almond nuts. If desired, you can substitute almonds for peanuts or walnuts, as well as add any dried fruits and lemon zest. White chocolate, which is covered with biscotti, can be replaced with milk, nutella or peanut butter.

150 g almonds (walnuts);
2 eggs;
150 g of sugar;
150 g butter;
300 g flour;
1 teaspoon of baking powder for dough;
a pinch of salt;
100 g raisins;
100 g white chocolate.

Sift flour into a bowl with baking powder, add a pinch of salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes, then put it in the bowl of a food processor, add sugar and grind everything into crumbs.

Add the eggs to the butter while continuing to beat. Then add flour little by little. Add chopped nuts and raisins. Knead the resulting dough well on a floured surface, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 gr.S. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, knead it again, and shape it into a flat loaf. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, send in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven. Cut the loaf into slices 1-2 cm thick. Spread the resulting cookies on a baking sheet with the cut side up and send it back to the oven, bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Cool the finished cookies a little, pour with melted white chocolate or brush with peanut butter. If desired, you can decorate the delicacy by sprinkling nuts or raisins on top. Enjoy your meal!

Recipe 5: biscotti with dried apricots and prunes (step by step)

AT this recipe prunes, dried apricots and walnuts are used as flavoring additives. However, depending on the taste and the availability of food in the refrigerator, you can use other ingredients. For example, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, raisins, cinnamon, anise, pistachios, seeds, orange peel, fruits, dried fruits, chocolate pieces, liquor, extracts, etc.

Flour - 280 g
Sugar - 100 g
Eggs - 3 pcs.
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Prunes - 50 g
Dried apricots - 50 g
Walnuts - 50 g
Salt - a pinch

First of all, wash and fill warm water dried apricots with prunes. Let the dried fruit sit for 10 minutes to soften. Dry well with paper towels and cut into pieces.

Walnuts are also detailed in slices. If they are raw, then pre-pierce them in a clean and dry frying pan.

Take two bowls, beat two whole eggs and one protein into a large bowl, and put one yolk into a small bowl. We will grease crackers with them.

Pour sugar into a bowl with eggs and beat with a mixer until it doubles in volume.

Add a pinch of salt to the airy egg mass and pour the flour, which we sift through a fine sieve.

Let's knead the dough.

Add prepared nuts and dried fruits to it.

Knead the dough again.

The consistency of the dough will be sticky, so we will form it into a long sausage with wet hands. Place the candy bar on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Mix the yolk with a fork and grease the dough roll with a silicone brush.

We heat the oven to 180 degrees and send the biscotti to bake.

After 20 minutes, the roll will be covered with a golden crust, so we will remove it from the brazier.

Cut the slightly cooled bar with a sharp knife into slices about 1-1.5 cm thick.

Put them on a baking sheet and send them to the oven.

Reduce the heat to 150 degrees and dry the crackers for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the product and the desired consistency. If you want to get soft biscotti - bake for 15 minutes, completely dry and crispy - increase the re-baking time to 25 minutes.

In this recipe, I dried the crackers for 25 minutes. They turn out crumbly with a pleasant sweetish taste. At the same time, even after complete drying, they do not become too hard.

Because in essence biscotti are hard crackers. Therefore, they are always served with drinks in which they are dipped before drinking. Italian croutons are served with fresh coffee, sweet wine or freshly squeezed orange juice.

Recipe 6: Biscotti Cookies with Pineapple and Dried Fruits

we are offering to you new recipe simple and quick to prepare sweet bread, which has a juicy and rather dense dough, maximally saturated with nuts and dried fruits. It goes well with a morning cup of tea or coffee. From it you can make fragrant biscotti (cookies that are re-baked from cooked bread), which can be beautifully packaged and presented to friends.

prunes 63 gr.
figs 75 gr.
dates 30 gr.
raisins 100 gr.
dried apricots 55 gr.
hazelnut 20 gr.
almonds 20 gr.
walnuts 30 gr.
pistachios 20 gr.
canned pineapple 250 gr.
wheat flour 185 gr.
ground cinnamon 3 gr.
baking powder dough 10 gr.
pineapple juice 110 gr.

Chop nuts, cut dried fruits and pineapples into medium cubes and put in one bowl. Separately mix all dry ingredients: flour with baking powder and cinnamon.

Add flour to nuts and dried fruits and mix well. It is more convenient to do this in disposable gloves. Then pour in pineapple juice and knead the dough, it should be homogeneous. If it is poorly formed for you, you can add another 5 gr. juice and stir again.

Turn on the oven to warm up to 170 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet, form a loaf and send to the oven. Bake until tender, about 30-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bread. Readiness to check with a wooden skewer, it should come out of the middle of the bread dry.

Freshly baked bread can be cut and served immediately. To taste, it will be a soft cake, as rich as possible with nuts and dried fruits. And you can make biscotti from it: cut the bread into slices 1 cm wide.

Arrange them back on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven at 170 degrees for 10 minutes on each side. If you cut the biscotti thicker, it will take longer to dry. Proper biscotti should be fairly firm and crispy.

Recipe 7: Biscotti with Orange Peel (Step by Step Photos)

Wheat flour - 1.5 stack.
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Orange peel (one)
Salt (a pinch)
Chicken egg - 3 pcs
Vanillin - 1 tsp
Sugar - 2/3 stack.

Preheat oven to 180*C. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add zest.

Beat the eggs lightly with a whisk, add vanilla and pour the whole mass over the flour. Mix well, knead a little with your hands. Add nuts, dried fruits to taste.

Put the dough on a baking sheet and, moistening your hands with water, give the dough a semicircular, slightly flattened shape. Bake 30 min.

Remove from oven, let cool slightly, cut into thin strips with a sharp knife. Arrange them on a baking sheet and send them to the oven for another 10 minutes, until they are dry and crispy.

Recipe 8: Biscotti from Yulia Vysotskaya from cornmeal

The recipe from the TV presenter is simple and you can easily cope with it yourself, armed with our culinary recommendations.

A glass with a small mountain of wheat flour.
Cornmeal-150 gr.
A little less than a glass granulated sugar.
3 chicken eggs.
Soda, you can replace it with baking powder - 2/3 teaspoon.
Vanilla sachet.
A sachet of cinnamon.
30 ml of lemon juice - this is necessary for those who use soda.
Almonds, dates, hazelnuts, prunes, dried apricots, chocolate, raisins - you add these ingredients according to your preference.

Filled with nuts and other hearty ingredients, these biscotti cookies take almost the same amount of time as the previous baking variation. The scheme of actions is as follows, we follow it step by step:

We put all the listed dried fruits and nuts in a bowl and pour boiling water to soften. The mixture is softened, cut it all into small pieces. Grind the nuts with a blender.

Mix sugar with flour, then add soda slaked with lemon juice, mix everything again.

Break chicken eggs into a bowl and pour vanilla and cinnamon, mix. Pour the egg slurry with seasonings into flour and knead the dough, the dough should turn out to be elastic.

Pour crushed nuts and dried fruits to the dough, knead everything.

Sprinkle the table with a small amount of flour and pour out the dough, knead well, and then divide it into 2 identical lumps and form dough sausages 25 cm long from the lumps.

We roll out a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet and lay out the “sausages”. We heat the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees. We bake future biscotti for 25 minutes. The time has elapsed, take out the baking sheet and cool the pastry for 10 minutes.

We cut each sausage into neat cookies, cut obliquely, so the pastries will be more beautiful. Re-send the pastries to bake for 10 minutes, 10 minutes left, turn the cookies over and bake the unbaked side for 10 minutes.

Simple yet sophisticated, biscotti is “twice-baked” to dip its crispy barrels in dessert wine and enjoy an unsurpassed combination of flavors.

Noble Italian biscotti "crackers" with nuts, dried fruits and chocolate pieces got their sonorous name from the Latin word "biscotto" - "baked twice". The name itself already reveals the way the dessert is prepared. Long logs are formed from dough with sweet filling, baked until cooked and cut into oblique thin slices to be sent back to the oven for drying to a golden, crispy crust.

Today culinary world Italy is famous for its variety of biscotti recipes. Each Italian cafe welcomes guests with a wide selection of several varieties of crispy dessert. Depending on the filling, all types of biscotti have their own unique taste: citrus, anise, cinnamon, nut, fruit or chocolate. The classic biscotti recipe is not too strict for cooks and allows you to combine any taste with each other. From this dessert only wins, and becomes almost author's.

In Italy, biscotti is also called cantucci or cantuccini. But still, this is a slightly different kind of "crackers". They are prepared from yeast dough, although the baking technology is the same. Biscotti have other unsweetened relatives. So, unleavened “twice-baked” croutons are prepared with spicy spices on olive oil and thicken soups with them, serve with meat stews, sauces and toppings.

Biscotti: TOP-5 recipes

Recipe 1: Classic Almond Biscotti

Ingredients for 4 servings: 280 g flour, 100 g whole almonds, 130 g sugar, 3 eggs, 50 g raisins, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon each of baking powder and vanilla sugar.

Saturate flour with air through sifting, add baking powder, sugar, salt. For better mixing, all ingredients can be sifted together.
Beat the eggs with a mixer until a thick, stable mass is formed, and gently fold into the flour mixture. Knead the dough.
In the process of kneading, add raisins and almonds. Knead the dough so that the almonds and raisins are evenly distributed throughout the mass.
Cut the sticky dough into three equal pieces, moisten your hands and form them into long loaves. Transfer the bread rolls to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
For the first baking, future biscotti will need 175 ° C and about 20 minutes. As soon as their color turns red, the loaves can be taken out.
Cool the bread slightly and cut diagonally into oblong slices one and a half centimeters wide. Almonds in the dough will easily succumb to a knife with a serrated blade.
Return the future cookies to the baking sheet and place to bake for another 15-25 minutes. If you want biscotti to be left with a soft center and crispy edges, 15 minutes is enough for him. For completely dried and ruddy croutons, increase the baking time to 25 minutes.

Recipe 2: Hazelnut Chocolate Biscotti

Ingredients for 6 servings: 2.5 cups flour, a cup of hazelnuts, 4 eggs, 1.3 cups of sugar, 0.5 cups of cocoa powder, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of freshly ground coffee, 0.5 teaspoon of soda, ¾ teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt.

Blanch nuts in boiling water for 5 minutes. Strain through a colander, removing excess water from the nuts with paper towels.
Pour the prepared hazelnuts into a mold and dry in the oven for 10 minutes at 175 degrees. When the nuts are browned and a characteristic smell appears, the hazelnuts can be taken out. Grind the cooled nuts between the palms to remove the husk.
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cocoa and finely ground coffee into a large bowl.
In another bowl, beat eggs in foam. Separate 2 tbsp. spoons egg mass, and in the remaining pour granulated sugar and continue to beat until a "cap" is formed.
Combine the egg and flour mixtures, knead the elastic dough.
Pour the ruddy hazelnuts into the dough and knead it again, evenly distributing the nuts.
Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. Dust your hands with flour and form two elongated loaves, transfer to a square shape with parchment. For a more golden brown, brush the loaves with the reserved egg mixture. Bake until crispy, about 15-20 minutes.
Cool the pastry a little and cut with a knife with a sharp blade into centimeter-thick oblique slices. Return the biscotti to the oven for another quarter of an hour.
Leave the dessert to "rest" for 18-24 hours, then pack it in an airtight container.

Recipe 3: Lemon biscotti from Yulia Vysotskaya

Ingredients for 7 servings: 400 g flour, 250 g granulated sugar, 3 eggs + 2 yolks, 2 lemons, 130 g almonds, 130 g pecans, 4 tbsp. tablespoons of butter, 1 tbsp. spoon of baking powder, 3 tbsp. spoons of buckwheat or cornmeal.

Prepare blanks: beat two eggs and two yolks into a dense foam, until the volume is 2 times larger; melt 3 tablespoons of butter; enrich flour and baking powder with air through a sieve; chop half of the nuts into crumbs; scrape the zest from the lemons, extract the juice from half of one fruit.
Knead dough with: beaten eggs, chopped nuts, flour mixture, citrus zest and juice, butter, corn/buckwheat flour. You can knead the dough until smooth in a food processor, or traditional way- hands.
Grease a flat biscotti baking dish with the remaining oil. Preheat the oven by setting the temperature to 180°C.
Transfer the workpiece to a floured table, cut into three identical pieces. From each part to mold an oblong ball. Put all the breads on a baking sheet. They will bake for about 40 minutes.
While still hot, cut the loaves into thin circles and put them again on a baking sheet for drying at the same temperature.
When the tops of the Italian cookies are golden brown, remove the biscotti and set aside to cool completely.

Recipe 4: Appetizing biscotti with a mix of dried fruits and nuts

Ingredients for 5 servings: 250 g flour, 200 g granulated sugar, 3 eggs, 1.5 tbsp. spoons of baking powder, 50 g each of dates, dried apricots, peeled unsalted pistachios, peeled almonds, peel of one lemon.

Saturate the flour with air by sifting, combine with granulated sugar and baking powder.
Lightly froth the eggs and, slowly pouring into the flour, knead an elastic, but elastic dough.
AT ready dough knead finely chopped dried fruits: dried apricots and dates. Add nuts.
From the dough, mold two identical, long, slightly flattened loaves.
Transfer the bread rolls to a flat form greased with oil and send to the oven with a temperature of 180 ° C. It will take 20-25 minutes to prepare them.
Cut the slightly cooled loaves diagonally into slices with a wall thickness of 1 cm.
Transfer the croutons back into the mold and place in the oven again, this time for a quarter of an hour. After 5-7 minutes, flip the biscotti with the baked cut down.
Transfer the cooled Italian cookies to a hermetically sealed box.

Recipe 5: Biscotti with Prosciutto and Parmesan

Ingredients for 16 biscotti: 3 eggs, 70 g thin slices of prosciutto, 1.5 cups flour, a cup of grated Parmesan, 8 tbsp. tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt.

Beat soft butter with a mixer until it becomes fluffy and snow-white.
Continuing to beat, add all the eggs one by one. Whisk in the flour, Parmesan, chopped prosciutto, salt and freshly ground black pepper. The dough should be homogeneous and elastic, but not steep.
With wet hands, fashion loaves 30 cm long and 10 cm wide.
Baking time in an oven heated to 180 ° C is about half an hour.
Allow the finished loaves to cool for 10 minutes and cut into slices obliquely 1 cm thick. Move the slices to a baking sheet and lay them cut side up. Re-bake the biscotti at 135°C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
Remove croutons from the oven, cool, pack in a box.

Biscotti with prosciutto and parmesan go well with wines - rose and sparkling white. They also make an ideal companion for soups, Mediterranean and vegetable salads.

Every master of Italian baking has his own signature biscotti recipe. It turns out so thanks to simple secrets that will help us prepare our perfect biscotti.

If ordinary flour is replaced with confectionery flour, which contains less protein and, accordingly, lower ability to form gluten, then finished goods will be more airy.
So that biscotti from ordinary flour is not excessively coarse and dense, you need to add a spoonful of rice to it. So baking flour will be similar in properties to confectionery flour, and the finished dough will become more loose and soft.
It is better to knead the dough with your hands to feel its consistency. It should be supple, soft and not too dry. Excessively wet and sticky dough can be sprinkled with flour and even out its structure.
The main advantage of biscotti is a long shelf life. They stale slowly and can be stored in hermetically sealed containers for up to three weeks. Therefore, such "crackers" can be prepared in in large numbers for future use, pack in a tin container and be always ready for the arrival of unexpected guests.
If you disguise the modest appearance of biscotti with melted chocolate or icing, then they will no longer look like croutons, but like gourmet cakes.
In Italy, there is a tradition to pack homemade biscotti in a gift tin box and give it to friends and relatives for the holidays.

Italian culinary experts came up with biscotti as an appetizer for sweet wine. Since then, it has been customary to serve a dry dessert exclusively in the company of drinks - traditional coffee or tea, wine, milk, juice. In Italy, eating biscotti is a ritual. During the siesta, Italians like to enjoy their vacation with a glass of dessert wine, dipping crispy biscotti into it. Why don't we adopt this wonderful tradition from them?