Biscotti of the Gods

December 1, 2007 6:08 PM

I have a newfound biscotti obsession. So far I have made a fabulous chocolate chip and toasted almond biscotti and a rather insipid one with matcha and almond. What other ingredients make great biscotti? What can I add to the matcha biscotti to make it more interesting?

I used this recipe for the first one, and just altered it for the second.

I searched askme for other biscotti posts, and all I found was this biscotti.

posted by arcticwoman to food & drink (17 comments total)

Depends, a lot, on the sensitivity of your palate, and the coffee/espresso with which you might be serving your biscotti. I tend to the sparse, and thus I recommend simple, but good herbal flavorings, like cardamom and anise. If you must throw chocolate into your presentation, shave a bit of very dark, high solids chocolate over your coffee/espresso, where the warmth of the coffee can carry the chocolate into your palate smoothly, without overwhelming the taste of your fragrant biscotti.
posted by paulsc at 6:27 PM on December 1, 2007

An old roommate of mine once made lavender biscotti that was really unusual and delicious. I don't have the recipe, but if you google it you'll find lots of them.

Personally I always do something with chocolate or almond (or both!) but that's just my preference.
posted by missuswayne at 6:33 PM on December 1, 2007

I've made a pistachio-cranberry biscotti, and it was pretty good.

I also like plain lemon, and a ginger-cinnamon spice mix with the biscotti half dipped in dark chocolate.

Chokylit, over at http://cupcakeblog.com combines interesting flavors all the time with cupcakes, and right now on her front page she's got an adzuki bean paste in a chocolate flavored cupcake with matcha frosting. Maybe you could mix some sweet bean paste into your cookies. (I've never done this, it just sounds interesting.)
posted by eldiem at 6:50 PM on December 1, 2007

lemon myrtle/almond
macadamia/white chocolate
pistachio
ginger/green tea
espresso/walnut

... are some of my favourite things ...
posted by ysabet at 6:56 PM on December 1, 2007

I'm not a master baker, but I made a chocolate biscotti once using fresh orange zest as a flavoring agent. It was awesome. I'm a coffee addict and that stuff was fantastic with it.
posted by empyrean at 7:18 PM on December 1, 2007

I also have made some nice orange biscotti. I think sweet citrus can be a very nice accompaniment to coffee. Pairs well with almond, too.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:29 PM on December 1, 2007

I think a bit of grated fresh ginger would go quite nicely with the matcha.
posted by rhinny at 7:30 PM on December 1, 2007

Amaretto
posted by Sara Anne at 7:46 PM on December 1, 2007

White chocolate and cranberries make a good combo.
posted by slavlin at 8:32 PM on December 1, 2007

Pumpkin chocolate? Pumpkin cranberry? Crystallized ginger and almost anything (chocolate, pumpkin, raisin, cranberries, lemon, other fruits). Honey is another flexible addition.
posted by barnone at 8:49 PM on December 1, 2007

Continuing:
- fig and honey
- hazelnut
- ginger and matcha?
- lemon poppyseed
- lemon ginger
- pumpkin spice
- lemon and pine nuts
- macadamia and...cranberry? chocolate?
- coconut and something
- spicy Mayan chocolate (chipotle?)
- spicy Indian flavors
- Chai
- pear butterscotch or caramel
- apple raisin

Other ideas here.
posted by barnone at 8:55 PM on December 1, 2007

Holiday Biscotti with Cranberry and Pistachios, a tried and true recipe from Epicurious.com that is really fabulous. I skip the white chocolate step.
posted by purenitrous at 10:41 PM on December 1, 2007

I've had pretty good luck making nutella biscotti to take to work. The hazelnut/chocolate taste seems to go rather well with coffee. This recipe has served me well in the past.
posted by conradjones at 11:13 PM on December 1, 2007

Also experiment with other nuts. Almonds and hazlenuts are lovely indeed, but I have also enjoyed good biscotti with walnuts and pecans (chopped).
I suspect macadamia nuts might be a bit too 'buttery', but maybe peanuts might be nice....
posted by Marzipan at 5:38 AM on December 2, 2007

A friend once made some anise biscotti -- scrumptious! I've also heard some people rave about pepper (black pepper) biscotti; see the Epicurious website. Sounds really good; odd, but good.
posted by Smalltown Girl at 4:03 PM on December 2, 2007

Think Italian: orange, lemon, anise, hazelnut, pistachio, honey.
posted by holgate at 8:14 PM on December 2, 2007

Late to the question but I have the greatest biscotti recipe. It was given to me by a lactose intollerant friend and is made with olive oil instead of butter, which give the cookies a more tender, yet still crisp, texture. I have never made these without sending people into raves.

Olive Oil Biscotti

2 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup olive oil (not extra virgin, obviously, unless you want it to taste of olives, which actually would be good if you modified this to make, say, rosemary biscotti)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (or more) teaspoon lemon extract (I use more. Invest in a high quality extract, it's worth it)
1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts or hazelnuts in this)
1 1/2 cups dried cherries


set oven to 325
mix dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder.
beat eggs, sugar, oil, extracts.
stir in dry ingredients
add nuts and fruit
divide dough into quarters, shape into 12 by 2 inch logs (dough will be slightly greasy)
bake 20-25 minutes, until light brown
let logs cool for ten minutes, but leave oven on.
cut into 1/2 inch slices on the bias, turn oven off and put biscotti in - let them dry for at least 30 mins
posted by CunningLinguist at 1:46 PM on December 9, 2007