Hints for Success with Biscotti

Appears in

Published 1990

Measure ingredients accurately. Small baked goods like biscotti show variations in quantities more easily than larger pastries.
If you get a lot of bottom heat, bake the cookies on two pans stacked together to prevent the cookies from burning on the bottom. Or use insulated cookie sheets.
Line pans with parchment or buttered wax paper for easy removal and cleanup.
Watch cookies for signs of doneness after half the baking time has elapsed. Every oven bakes differently, and it would be a shame to burn a batch of delicate biscotti by waiting until the suggested baking time in the recipe had elapsed before checking them.
Avoid overbaking — fragile biscotti are often ruined by dehydrating entirely during baking. This is especially true of types that contain little or no fat, like mostaccioli and amaretti.
Cool the biscotti as directed in the recipe. Coarser, drier varieties may cool on the pan without loss of quality. More delicate types should cool on a rack. An easy way to cool biscotti on a rack is to slide the paper directly from the pan to the rack, leaving the biscotti in place on the paper.
Cool thoroughly before storing or the biscotti may become soggy from condensation generated by cooling in a closed container.
Coarser biscotti may be kept in a tin or cookie jar. Store more fragile varieties between sheets of paper in a tin to prevent damage.
Allow drier biscotti to age for a few days, so they may absorb a little moisture from the air and soften.