Authentic Biscotti Di Prato
Submitted by Petertercier
Authentic biscotti di Prato (cantucci): the traditional Tuscan twice-baked almond cookies, made with no butter for a hard, crunchy bite built for dunking in coffee or vin santo.
YIELD
48 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
45 minREADY
1 hrsThese are the real deal, biscotti di Prato, also called cantucci, the twice-baked Tuscan almond cookies that are meant to be hard. Authentic versions like this one contain no butter or oil at all, just flour, sugar, eggs, and whole roasted almonds, which is exactly why they turn out so dry and crunchy and so good for dunking.
The name says it: biscotti means twice-cooked. You bake the dough in logs first, slice them on the diagonal while still warm, using downward knife strokes so they don’t crumble, then toast the slices a second time until they reach the crunch you want. Toast them longer for harder, drier biscotti.
A couple of pointers from the dough stage: toast the almonds before they go in for deeper flavor, and once the dough comes together, let it rest a few minutes so the flour fully absorbs the liquid and turns less sticky to shape.
Serve these the Italian way, dunked in a glass of vin santo or a cup of espresso.
Pro Tips
- Toast the almonds first. It deepens their flavor and aroma in the finished cookie.
- Let the stiff dough rest a few minutes before shaping, so the flour hydrates and it’s less sticky.
- Slice the warm logs on the diagonal with firm downward strokes so they don’t crumble.
- Toast the cut slices longer for harder, drier biscotti, or less for a slightly softer bite.
Variations
- Add orange or lemon zest, or a splash of anise, for a traditional twist.
- Use hazelnuts or pistachios in place of almonds.
- Dip one end in melted chocolate once cooled.
Ingredients
Directions
Roast the almonds in a 350℉ (180℃) often until lightly browned (10-15 minutes). Cool nuts completely. Lower the oven temperature to 300℉ (150℃) F.
In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt) just to mix. Separate out about ½ cup of this mixture, and spread SOME of the reserved ½ cup onto your kneading surface.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, lightly beat together the eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the flour mixture in the medium bowl and pour in the egg/vanilla mixture.
Stir the flour into the egg mixture from the outside of the well. Continue combining until the mixture is too stiff to stir.
Turn the mixture out onto your kneading surface, which should already be floured with some of the reserved dry ingredients.
With floured hands (use some of the reserved dry ingredients for this if you want), fold the dough over itself until it coheres. Use the rest of the reserved dry ingredients for your hands and the work surface, if necessary.
Press the nuts into the dough and keep folding the dough over itself until the nuts are evenly distributed. Let the dough sit a few minutes so the flour absorbs the liquid completely, making the dough less sticky.
Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece with your hands so that the pieces are elongated into strips about 1 inch wide and 12 to 14 inches long.
Place the strips on the buttered/floured baking sheet, leaving about 4 inch between each strip.
If you want somewhat wider strips, flatten the strips with your hands to a width of 2 inches. Bake for about 50 minutes at 300℉ (150℃) F. Let the strips cool for 5 minutes, and them remove them with a spatula to a cutting surface.
Using a sharp knife and making downward strokes, cut the strips into diagonal bars about ½ inch wide. Lay the cut biscotti on their sides on the two baking sheets.
Toast 35 to 50 minutes, depending on how dark (and crunchy?) you want them.
To make much wider strips:
Divide the dough into two strips, same length (12 - 14 inches). Each cookie will be about 6 inches long. This should make about 2 dozen cookies.
Note:
You need two 12×15 inch cookie sheets. Butter and flour ONE of the cookie sheets. The oven should be at 350℉ (180℃) F to roast the almonds, and 300℉ (150℃) F to bake the biscotti. Total baking time for the biscotti is about 2 hours.
You also need to have handy and ready a surface for kneading the biscotti dough and a surface for cutting the baked biscotti.
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