A wonderful little cookie that goes great with your afternoon or evening tea.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Divide the dough in half and place each half at least 2 inches apart, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using lightly flour-dusted hands, shape the dough into logs about 12 inches long by 3 inches wide, by 1 inch high. (These are NOT exact measurements.)
Place baking sheet with cookie logs in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn and bake another 10 - 15 minutes or until top of dough is crusty and firm to the touch.
As the references for this recipe, I studied the biscotti recipes in Cook's Illustrated and the Double Chocolate Pecan biscotti recipe and high altitude baking instructions in the cookbook Pie In the Sky.
Lavender – I decided to add a little lavender because we have some wonderful local lavender at an organic lavender farm called Los Poblanos in the north valley. In the early summer it has fields and fields of beautiful blooming lavender. In July it holds a Lavender Festival and features all types of goodies and classes about lavender.
Butter vs. no butter – Since I had never made biscotti before, I did quite a bit of research and found some recipes with butter and some without. For example, The Pie In The Sky recipe had butter and 3 eggs, while the Cook’s Illustrated recipe had no butter and 2 eggs. Apparently, it’s the fat content that controls the crispiness – too little fat and the biscotti gets too crispy and too much fat they are too soft. I decided to split the difference between these two and omit the butter altogether and use 3 eggs. The result were crispy, but not tooth cracking biscotti. I preferred them this way because I always dip them in my tea anyway. Bobby preferred them a little less crispy.
In the third batch, I blended in 2 Tbsp. softened butter with the eggs and sugar. The result was a less crispy biscotto that stayed “soft” for several days. Bobby prefer these. I preferred them crispier. So there you go – for more crispy, omit the butter; for less crispy and more cookie like, add butter.
Second baking time – The first time I made these I did an experiment with the second baking. Actually, the whole thing was an experiment. Anyway, I divided the cut cookies into two batches. The first batch I baked 7 minutes per side. The second batch I baked 9 minutes per side. The 7 minute batch was a touch gummy in the center and the 9 minute batch was pretty crispy. Knowing that they would get even more crispy from day to day, I felt that 9 minutes was too long. When I made these again, I did 8 minutes per side on the second bake and they were “just right”. They still get a little crispier after a few days, but they are dipping cookies, so just serve them with a nice hot cup of tea.
Oven Temperature – Pie In the Sky recommended an oven temperature of 350° F for any place over 3000 feet in elevation and 325° F for the second baking. At sea level, the recommended oven temperatures were 325° F and 275° F, respectively but a minute or two longer on the cooking time. So keep that in mind if you live at sea level.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen