That's a great tip, but did the biscotti crisp up again after the soaking?

Try using a Japanese wood saw.

Very thin and very sharp.

dcarch

https://www.carbatec.com.au/images/ProductImages/500/Z-15009.jpg

I use a serrated knife to cut biscotti. Inevitable, at least one cracks ;-(

The really bad news is that's the one I have to eat :-)

I cut my biscotti with an electric knife......and I find they are easier to cut while still warm.. And, I am careful not to over bake the first time....after all they get baked again, so as long as they are set and firm, it doesn't matter if they are browned.
And I always cut mine on an angle. I think ti looks prettier....and of course you always get one strange shaped piece at the end....so I get to eat that right away!

Yup, those ends aren't good enough for company!

I cut warm, too, and usually on an angle, unless I want them to be small.

Now I need to make biscotti...

Yeah me too.......and I have hazelnuts in the freezer!

Oh yum. Hmm...I think tomorrow will be baking day.

I usually cut biscotti as soon as the loaf is cool enough to handle - maybe 10 minutes. I use a sharp thin bladed knife. Did that with biscotti packed with pistachios and apricots last week and had no breakage. No sawing just cut straight down.

I think this is the knife I used:
https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-7-Inch-Granton-Santoku/dp/B000QCPNWM/ref=sr_1_8?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1477948149&sr=1-8&keywords=victronix+knives

Years ago I read that for the second baking use an oven rack which eliminates having to turn the biscotti I seem to recall I did that and was pleased with the results.

Good tips! In my experience the recipe makes a difference too.
The paper towel is not dripping, just thoroughly moistened and the softened outer crust crisps nicely during the 2nd baking.

Cloud Swift, would you share your recipe? TIA

Thank you Lars. I love cardamom and have never used it in biscotti. Your recipe is more like my favorite with its egg-flour ratio. It's going on the list for Xmas baking!

The recipe was modified from the Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti recipe on Joy of Baking. I used chopped dried apricot in place of the cranberries and increased the amount of dried fruit and the pistachios to 100 grams each.

Good idea. Some people use a spray bottle to lightly spritz water onto the biscotti loaf before slicing. I let mine cool as long as I can (sometimes all the way and sometimes not), and then just use a serrated knife to slice. I slightly wiggle the knife into the top, then cut through to the bottom, pushing the knife down, not sawing. When I first started making it, it crumbled a lot, but after several years I have my technique down and it's not much of a problem. The one or two slices I might damage are for me to eat. ;)

Thank you Cloud Swift. I'll try it next time instread of the one I did. Bought the big bag of pistachios. (I go through a lot of biscotti!). I like its egg-flour ratio.

I'll try your technique Bluebell. I've been using the sawing motion all the way. Will have to try the cold loaf a few more times with different recipes to confirm its efficacy.

edit: watched the video at Cloud Swift's link and there is one difference in how she forms the log. She's using flour for rolling and I'm doing it with no flour inside saran wrap. Maybe that's why mine have a shiny crisp exterior.

And I notice Lars' recipe also has no butter or oil. Hmmm.

My recipe is very similar to lars'....also no fat but that in the egg yolks.
And I brush each log with egg before baking.

Biscotti Di Prato

3 3/4 C all purpose flour (stirred till fluffy before measuring)
2 C sugar
1 tsp double acting baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla ( or 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract if using
almonds)
1 2/3 c almonds or hazel nuts coarse chopped and lightly toasted.
eggwash

Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
whisk together eggs, yolks and extracts, add eggs, etc to flour mixture and
stir until a dough forms (looks like it can never happen... but keep
working it...it will. I sometimes add a VERY little sprinkling of water)
add nuts, turn out on a non-stick surface ( I use a marble board or my
formica rolling board) and knead 3 or 4 times. Divide into fourths and
shape each piece into a 11 x 2 in. log ( make it "tall" as they
flatten
while baking) Place on buttered and floured baking sheets, brush with egg
wash (egg yolk whisked with 1 T water). Bake at 350 for 35 min and cool 20
min. Slice 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place on clean baking sheets ( cut side
down) and bake 10 or 12 minutes at 275. turn pieces over and bake another
10 minutes. If you want to make them extra fancy, dip half a slice in
melted chocolate and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts. You can make bigger
'scottis by making two thicker logs, but be sure to leave room for spread.

Best dipped in tea or coffee....or best yet in a sweet dessert wine!

Enjoy! Linda

Thanks Linda!

I must have had a good recipe when i made it years ago. Never a problem slicing. When i tried confidently a few years later it was a total fail having lost the original recipe...maybe an electric knife, (don't have one) but like mentioned above, it is the recipe and method. And i like it very thin.

It has been off my list for some time. Might try again with above recipes.

My understanding is that it is traditional for biscotti to not have butter or oil.

Just curious. Is the problem the "stuff" like nuts & dried fruit? Or is it the cookie part? I don't make biscotti, but I make Greek paximadia. It's a similar idea: logs of dough, flattened down, and then baked until very lightly browned, about 7-10 minutes at 350. Cutting after the first bake is pretty easy, and I rarely get crumbles. I've always attributed it to the fact that they're very buttery and have no fruit or nuts.

I chop my nuts...sort of. I want some bigger pieces and when my knife encounters a big nut near the edge, it sometimes causes the biscotti to crumble. an electric knife helps and also cutting while warm while the nuts are still a bit soft..
I never put dried fruit in my biscotti. I don't like hard pieces of dried fruit....and that always happens when you bake them again....of I don't know how apricot bits cut....but a big piece of an almond definitely can cause a problem.

The apricots came out chewy, not hard. I can't remember for sure now, but I may have used the Mediterranean style dried apricots and they start out more moist than the California style. Pistachios aren't as big or as hard as almonds. I chopped them a little - so they were cut perhaps in half or quarter.

Irisgal - I never watched the video and I ignored the directions in the recipe to roll the dough into a log on the counter. I did what I always do to shape biscotti. I put scooped the dough out on to the parchment paper and patted it into the length and width in the recipe. The dough smoothed out nicely. Sometimes I use damp hands to smooth out the top.

I see that she cut them on the parchment paper. I don't like to cut on parchment. It's easy enough to move the log without the paper.

Edited to add: I looked at youtube videos on making biscotti by about 5 different people last evening and all but one rolled them into a log on a floured surface (often IMO using way too much flour). Only one made it like I do forming the log in place on the parchment. Maybe I'm doing it the "wrong" way, but they come out good so I'm not likely to change.

Thanks Cloud Swift. I also thought the extra flour was not desirable.

I roll mine into a log on a floured surface. whether or not it's "too much flour" depends on how much you put in to begin with....and just how big your eggs were, how fresh how humid your kitchen is how carefully you measured....etc.
I have a light coating of flour on my logs, and when I brush them with an egg wash, it makes a lovely glossy coating.