Biscotti is a tasty almond cookie beloved for its crunchy texture and sweet, nutty flavour that is a mainstay in any Italian café or bakery. This Italian staple, also known as cantuccini, is more well-known for its use as a cup for dipping into hot liquid (typically coffee or sweet wine) than for its placement on a dessert platter. But that doesn’t preclude you from appreciating it on your own. We frequently carry it out!
The traditional Biscotti Cookies recipe was developed by renowned Tuscan biscotti chef Antonio Mattei, who helped make this cookie famous from his bakery in Prato, Tuscany, in the middle of the 1880s. The name biscotti is derived from the Latin for “twice-cooked.” In order to strengthen its crunchy texture and increase shelf stability, it is made up of flour, sugar, eggs, and almonds or pine nuts. Baking legend has it that Christopher Columbus kept it on his ships for lengthy voyages because of this.
Biscotti Flavors and Makers
You can see that there is much more on the biscotti table than just the standard sweet, nutty mainstay by perusing our selection of biscotti and cantuccini. Grab a fun flavour or novel style from our Italian marketplace if you’re looking for a great way to spice up your cookie tray and broaden your palate.
Biscotti’s adaptable flour, sugar, and egg recipe makes it the ideal base for mix-ins other than the usual almond and pine nut flavours. Biscotti are now available in a variety of flavours, including chocolate, honey, lemon, orange, cranberries, figs, black cherries, pistachio, and hazelnut. For those who enjoy the flavours of fall, there are even pumpkin spice biscotti options, just like many contemporary foods!
Styles of Biscotti
The only type of biscotti, according to an Italian purist, is the twice-baked cookie made according to Mattei’s original recipe. However, if you’re keen to mix things up, we suggest the following looks:
Traditional Biscotti
As we’ve already discussed, traditional biscotti uses just a few basic ingredients to make a sweet, nutty flavour: sugar and almonds. If maintaining tradition is your thing, stick to basic ingredients or purchase from long-standing vendors in Tuscany like Chiostro di Saronno and Sapori.
Jeweled Biscotti
Never undervalue the power of a fruity biscotti cookie if you enjoy a burst of sweetness in your biscuit! The most popular fruits used by bakers to flavour their double-baked desserts include candied cherries, pineapples, apricots, and more. Due to their vivid, multicoloured speckles, biscotti that have candied or dried fruit mixed in are frequently referred to as “jewelled” biscotti.
