SOS - is this biscotti okay?

14 years ago

I made biscotti for the first time last night and was planning on bringing them to a friend's house today.

I made the recipe below that a friend had passed along from Bon Appetit, but had a difficult time because the dough was so thick and sticky. As you can see in this photo, there are white specks throughout, which I thought meant the flour didn't get mixed in well enough - so I figured epic fail. But I just looked at the picture with the recipe (see link below), and they look the same. Is the white the oatmeal, or maybe the lemon/orange zest? I'm confused.

They're not the most beautiful biscotti in the world, but they taste fine. However, I sure don't want to take them somewhere if there's something wrong!

Can someone clue me in? Here are mine:

Sue

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 large eggs

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. orange zest

2 tsp. lemon zest

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350Ã¯Â¿Â½. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine first 6 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and next 5 ingredients. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold in cherries and pistachios.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 16"-long log. Brush off excess flour; transfer logs to prepared sheet, spaced 5" apart. Flatten each log into a 2"-wide strip. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 250Ã¯Â¿Â½ and arrange 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third.

Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer biscotti to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 2/3"-thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on baking sheets.

Bake biscotti, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until crisp, about 40 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks; let cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pistachio and Dried Cherry Biscotti

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Comments (9)

lindac
14 years ago
The white specks are oatmeal.....
Recipe sounds good, but think I might fine a way to leave out the oatmeal or sub for something else.....
mustangs81
14 years ago
Are you kidding?? They look fabulous!

My biscotti problem is getting guest to try them. I even put them at the coffee/hot cocoa station and encourage dunking. I have never had ONE eaten; I think people think they are stale. I guess that's a commentary on the guest I have; few Italians or CF members in the mix.
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coconut_nj
14 years ago
They look great to me too! I like the idea of a few oats in them, but then I love oats. Cathy, that's a darn shame. What the heck is wrong with those Fla. people??
goldgirl
Original Author
14 years ago
Whew - thanks everyone. I felt silly asking, but I just wasn't sure if it was oatmeal or flour!

Cathy - I'm in Jersey and we're going to dinner with a house full of Italians ;)

I can't believe I'd never tried making these before. It was messy but easy!

Sue
Ian80
14 years ago
IMO they look fabulous and I'm certain they taste far better than anything off the shelf.

I almost always use ground oats to make a more "bread like" (for lack of a better term) texture and to prevent oily and greasy "flat" doughy cookies and quick breads etc. Next time put them into a coffee grinder and pulse them into a powder which may be what was called for in the original recipe. Often times when people copy and pass down recipes they leave out little details such as this.

If you have never tried turkish pistachios and really want to go for the wow factor you should try to get your hands on some of them next time. They have a distinctly different taste and are usually what was available when many of these recipes were created. Commercially available CA are new product and really don't taste the same. Pistachios were also reserved for royalty and that is where the term "caught red handed" came from as they were colored solely for the purpose of preventing the commoners from enjoying them.
User
14 years ago
Sue, I would say that you have the same knack that Eileen (Barnmom) has for making perfect Biscotti. Just the kind I like. Your friend will be thrilled.

Ann
lsr2002
14 years ago
They look wonderful! I looked at the recipe you linked and your boscotti look much nicer than theirs and you can see the oatmeal flecks in theirs also.

I think everyone will enjoy them.

Cathy, too bad your friends in Forida don't appreciate them. I think they are the perfect cookie - crunchy and not too sweet. I know yours are fabulous too - you have the right genes to make them perfect.

Lee
hawk307
14 years ago
Goldgirl:

Your's look prettier !!! and
they must taste better than " just fine "

Lou
goldgirl
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all - the biscotti were a huge hit, to the point that none of the other more fancy desserts got eaten!

After all the courses - Italian meats/cheeses & shrimp cocktail, pasta fagioli, lasagna, pork roast with stuffed artichokes, and a fish course we didn't even get to, the biscotti were just the right sweet to cap off the meal.

SOS - is this biscotti okay?

Comments (9)

lindac

mustangs81

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SOS - is this biscotti okay?

Comments (9)

lindac

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