The Simple Baking Mistake That's Ruining Your Biscotti

If you love biscotti — those crunchy, nutty cookies – then you may want to try your hand at baking the dessert at home. However, the process of making biscotti may be a bit more complicated than that of other cookies since it includes baking the cookies twice. ("Biscotti" means "twice-cooked.") Daily Meal spoke with Norma Salazar, the chef-instructor of Pastry & Baking Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education's Los Angeles campus to find out what mistakes we should be looking to avoid.

For anyone unfamiliar with the general order of operations for making biscotti, the dough is made, baked for the first time (with the dough in a log-like shape), then cut into the familiar biscotti shape, and baked for the second time. According to Salazar, getting one or both of the baking times wrong can ruin your biscotti.

There's a reason biscotti is cooked twice, and it's all about the texture. Salazar explains, "Traditionally, this Italian cookie is meant to be dipped in a nice cup of hot espresso, so the second bake of the biscotti dries it out without getting much color." Despite the desire for a somewhat dried-out cookie, overbaking it can make it too dry. Underbaking it, on the other hand, will lead to a crispy exterior but an interior that is "doughy or cake-like, similar to a brownie," Salazar says.

Luckily, there are some tips you can keep in mind to ensure that you're approaching the double bake method in a way that gets you a perfect texture. Norma Salazar says, "For the first bake, take the dough out of the oven when it has a light golden-brown color." Any less and your biscotti will be underbaked. More and the second bake will make it too dry.

Salazar also suggests ensuring that the slices are uniform to avoid uneven baking. She continues, "Place [the biscotti] on a cutting board to slice ¼-inch thick before doing the second bake. Do not let the dough cool too much; it will be easier to slice if it is still slightly warm." Using a sharp serrated knife to cut also helps with ensuring the slices are even, Salazar advises. If the knife isn't sharp enough, you risk the cookies falling apart before the second baking step.

Finally, Salazar says to make sure heat can circulate around the cookies for the second bake so they dry out evenly. You can do this by standing the biscotti on their long edge on a baking sheet or placing them on a pan with a baking rack.

Not getting the baking time right is not the only mistake you can make when baking biscotti. Norma Salazar also warns, "Over-mixing the dough can cause it to be too fluffy and sticky." As soon as all of the ingredients come together — once everything is incorporated and you stop seeing flakes of flour — you can stop mixing. 

One of the best parts about biscotti is how customizable it is — from simple almond biscotti to chocolate pistachio biscotti or even crispy pancetta biscotti, the flavor possibilities are endless. But overdoing it with add-ins can cause problems.

Salazar says, "Adding too many inclusions will make the dough crumble and fall apart when you try to slice it." You don't need to stop yourself from adding exciting ingredients; just keep the inclusions to one or two. Not only will it help your biscotti bake better, but saving some inclusions for your next batch means getting to try even more flavor combinations in the future.