Cornmeal & Anise Biscotti
Crunchy Italian-style biscotti made with coarse yellow cornmeal, toasted almonds, anise liqueur, and aniseed. Twice-baked for that signature snap, built for dunking in espresso or Vin Santo.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
55 minREADY
90 minThese aren’t your standard biscotti. The coarse yellow cornmeal gives them a gritty, satisfying crunch that regular flour-only biscotti just can’t match.
Anise shows up in two forms here: whole aniseed baked right into the dough, and a splash of anise liqueur that perfumes every bite with that sweet, licorice-like warmth. Toasted almonds (whole and chopped) add nuttiness and texture throughout.
Twice-baked until dry and golden, these keep for weeks in an airtight container and actually improve over time. They’re made for dunking into strong coffee, espresso, or a glass of something sweet after dinner.
Baker’s Tips
- Toast the almonds before adding. Raw almonds go soft and bland in biscotti. Toasted almonds keep their crunch and bring out their flavour.
- If the dough is sticky, add flour a tablespoon at a time. Too much flour makes the biscotti rock-hard instead of pleasantly crunchy.
- Slice on a diagonal while the logs are still warm. Once fully cooled, they crack and crumble instead of slicing cleanly.
- Use coarse cornmeal, not fine-ground. The texture is the whole point.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 325℉ (160℃).
Butter 2 cookie sheets.
Coarsely chop ¼ cup almonds.
Using electric mixer, cream butter with sugar in large bowl just until combined.
Beat in eggs, liqueur, baking power and salt.
Stir in 2 cups flour, cornmeal, then whole and chopped almonds and aniseed.
If dough is sticky, mix in enough of remaining ¼ cup flour by tablespoons to form smooth dough.
Shape dough into four 2-inch-wide ¾ inch-thick logs.
Transfer to prepared cookie sheets, spacing evenly.
Bake until pale golden on edges, approximately 35 minutes.
Transfer logs to racks and cook for 10 minutes.
Maintain oven temperature.
Place logs on work surface and cut diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices.
Arrange slices cut side down on cookie sheets.
Bake until very light brown, about 10 minutes.
Transfer biscotti to rack and cool completely.
Store in airtight container at room temperature.
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