Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Recipe ⬇️ or print:
Biscotti is supposed to be crunchy, but why is shop bought biscotti so hard I feel like I'm going to break a tooth??!!
So yes, this biscotti is crunchy as it should be, but it's a softer crispiness. Original biscotti recipes from Italy don't include any fat but modern recipes these days do - including Lidia Bastianich's biscotti recipe on which my recipe is based (from her book "Lidia's Italian American Kitchen"). Love Lidia! I used to watch her show Lidia's Italy obsessively!
I've made it both ways and definitely prefer the versions with a bit of fat (it's less dry), and I prefer butter over olive oil for flavour so that's what I use.
While you'll always get crumbs when slicing the baked logs - that's just the nature of biscotti - I've made my recipe so it's easier to slice with less breakage risk by increasing the hydration of the dough slightly and reducing the bake time (slightly less dry and crispy after first bake = less prone to crumbling). Then my second bake time is longer to crisp up (24 min compared to 15 min in most recipes) though I use a lower temp than usual so the biscotti doesn't brown too much.
These will keep 2 weeks though it's it's hot and humid where you are, they might soften a little in which case just pop them in the oven for 8 minutes to crisp up again.
Hope you love! - Nagi x
PS Biscotti comes in all sorts of flavours these days but almond is arguably the most traditional so that's what I'm sharing today. More flavours to come later!
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BISCOTTI
1 1/4 cups almonds, whole, raw, unsalted (175g)
60g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (or light olive oil*)
3/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
2 large eggs, fridge cold
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups plain flour all-purpose flour (300g)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Toast almonds 10 min, then fully cool.
2. Whisk butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Whisk in eggs one and a time, then vanilla and almond. Add flour, scatter baking powder and salt across surface. Use a wooden spoon to mix. When flour is almost fully incorporated, add almonds then mix until you no longer see flour.
3. Shape into 2 logs 5 cm wide, 2 cm tall, 27 cm long (2 x 0.8 x /12"), bake 25 min (still on 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
4. Cool for at least 1 hr (cooler = less fragile = easier to cut without crumbling). Preh-heat oven to 150°/300°F (130°C fan). Slice diagonally 8mm / 1/3" thick using serrated knife. Bake on 2 trays 24 min, flipping biscotti at halfway mark, until light golden. Cool on trays – will crisp up as they cool. Keeps 2 weeks in airtight container in pantry!
* Dough will be slightly stickier, use wet hands to shape into logs. Don't use extra virgin olive oil, flavour is too strong. If that's all you've got, use 50/50 EVOO and a plain oil like canola.
Recipe ⬇️ or print:
Biscotti is supposed to be crunchy, but why is shop bought biscotti so hard I feel like I'm going to break a tooth??!!
So yes, this biscotti is crunchy as it should be, but it's a softer crispiness. Original biscotti recipes from Italy don't include any fat but modern recipes these days do - including Lidia Bastianich's biscotti recipe on which my recipe is based (from her book "Lidia's Italian American Kitchen"). Love Lidia! I used to watch her show Lidia's Italy obsessively!
I've made it both ways and definitely prefer the versions with a bit of fat (it's less dry), and I prefer butter over olive oil for flavour so that's what I use.
While you'll always get crumbs when slicing the baked logs - that's just the nature of biscotti - I've made my recipe so it's easier to slice with less breakage risk by increasing the hydration of the dough slightly and reducing the bake time (slightly less dry and crispy after first bake = less prone to crumbling). Then my second bake time is longer to crisp up (24 min compared to 15 min in most recipes) though I use a lower temp than usual so the biscotti doesn't brown too much.
These will keep 2 weeks though it's it's hot and humid where you are, they might soften a little in which case just pop them in the oven for 8 minutes to crisp up again.
Hope you love! - Nagi x
PS Biscotti comes in all sorts of flavours these days but almond is arguably the most traditional so that's what I'm sharing today. More flavours to come later!
----------------------
BISCOTTI
1 1/4 cups almonds, whole, raw, unsalted (175g)
60g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (or light olive oil*)
3/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
2 large eggs, fridge cold
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups plain flour all-purpose flour (300g)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Toast almonds 10 min, then fully cool.
2. Whisk butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Whisk in eggs one and a time, then vanilla and almond. Add flour, scatter baking powder and salt across surface. Use a wooden spoon to mix. When flour is almost fully incorporated, add almonds then mix until you no longer see flour.
3. Shape into 2 logs 5 cm wide, 2 cm tall, 27 cm long (2 x 0.8 x /12"), bake 25 min (still on 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
4. Cool for at least 1 hr (cooler = less fragile = easier to cut without crumbling). Preh-heat oven to 150°/300°F (130°C fan). Slice diagonally 8mm / 1/3" thick using serrated knife. Bake on 2 trays 24 min, flipping biscotti at halfway mark, until light golden. Cool on trays – will crisp up as they cool. Keeps 2 weeks in airtight container in pantry!
* Dough will be slightly stickier, use wet hands to shape into logs. Don't use extra virgin olive oil, flavour is too strong. If that's all you've got, use 50/50 EVOO and a plain oil like canola.
