Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (2024)

Soft Biscotti Recipe

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe

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Traditional Italian biscotti is a twice baked cookie that is hard and best when dunked into coffee. My grandmother made a different type- a soft Italian biscotti, one that is soft on the inside but dense and delicious when dipped in a glaze, and decorated with non-perils.

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (1)

Soft Italian Biscotti

We made these for Easter when I was younger but now my husband and I enjoy these for a light breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up. I use vanilla extract but you can substitute anise extract if you prefer these more traditional.

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (2)

Ingredients

Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 cup milk

½ tsp baking soda

3 cups flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

icing

2 cups powdered sugar

4 Tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (3)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.

Line baking sheets with silicon mats and set aside

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (about 3 minutes)

Add eggs, milk & vanilla and mix to combine.

Add all the dry ingredients and blend together.

Use about one tablespoon of dough and roll out into a rope and then twist into the desired shape.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

While the cookies cool, mix the icing.

Dip the cooled cookie tops in the icing (will be a bit runny) and top with sprinkles if desired.

Let icing dry completely before storing an an airtight container.

Makes about 3 dozen.


Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (4)

We roll our cookies into a twist shape just because it is a better shape for dunking into my coffee. You can easily roll them into balls or even a snail shell shape as well. Trust me this is one recipe that you will make all the time.

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (5)

These Italian biscotti cookies freeze well prior to glazing the cookies, simply defrost at room temperature until ready to use and then glaze the cookies. Be sure to wear a cute apron to protect your clothes from icing drips.

BAKING TIP **Be aware the coloring of the non-perils will spread if left in the glaze overnight so If you are making them for a shower or birthday party, glaze the morning of the event.

Happy Baking!

How to Bake in Batches to Make the Most of Your Baking Time

One way to handle your holiday baking is to bake in batches, then freeze and store for the big day. You can do this successfully over a couple of weeks with batch baking and batch preparing.

The biggest thing to remember is to only try a few different types of things in one day, or focus on just one type of baked good in one day. For example, you might want to bake all your quick breads in one day. Another day you can prepare all your cookie dough. Yet another time, you can bake all your fruit pies and so forth. This process makes the most of the time you have, the space you have, and your skill level.

Be Prepared

Don’t try batch baking without a plan of action. Be sure to write down your plans in advance so that you are sure you have enough time to do everything that you’ve planned. To figure out a basic time line, add up the prep time, the baking time for each oven full, and then multiply that by 1.5 to account for a little extra issues happening. Then you should be sure that you have enough time.

Get Everything Ready to Go

Your kitchen should be spotless when you start, and ensure that you have all the ingredients and appliances necessary to make each item ready to go. If you know, for example, that today you’ll be using about 10 pounds of flour, consider using a large bowl to hold the flour so you can easily spoon the flour into the measuring cup, flatten off over the bowl, without having to get into the bag over and over which usually means spillage.

Clean as You Go

Fill your sink immediately with hot soapy water so you can clean as you go. You will want to wash your mixing dishes and other utensils during the baking process so that you can use them again. There’s no point in totally destroying your kitchen as you batch bake, and you don’t have to. Set out a draining board, fill the sink with hot soapy water, and wash as you go. There are many opportunities during baking to wash a couple of dishes, and this will make the clean-up faster, and the process more organized.

All Day Batch Baking

You can set aside a day for batch baking such as a Saturday. Plan for all day baking, which usually entails 8 to 10 hours of work. Ensure that any other chores are done, including the shopping, and the kitchen is clean and ready prior to baking day. It’s important to organize your recipes with some logic behind them. For example, if you need dough to rise, start that first, so that it can be rising as you are preparing other things such as cookie dough or pie crusts. Both can be put in the refrigerator or freezer after preparation while you bake the bread, then baked after you bake the bread while the oven is still hot and ready.

Read each recipe that you plan to use and pay close attention to certain clues. For example, if an ingredient requires a cold kitchen, you’ll want to start that first. If something takes an hour to bake like banana bread, you can use that hour to mix other batter, dough, crust, filling and so forth that you can store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.

Organize the kitchen in stations. You will want a station for each type of baked good that you want to create. It’s a lot easier to lay out four pie crusts in pie tins, ready for fillings, than to do one at a time. As much as you can do for one type of thing in one run, do so. A bread making station is also essential. It needs to be a place you can freely flour the counter space, and easily clean up.

Be careful about combining batches in one recipe. If you have a cookie recipe that uses measures instead of weights, it’s better not to do them in more than one batch at a time, but you don’t need to clean the bowl between each batch that you make. Make the lightest type of batch first; for example, make sugar cookie dough before you make chocolate chip cookies, before you make peanut butter cookies. Consider the flavor, the ingredients, and everything before making the batches so that you can wash as little as possible.

The important thing about all day batch cooking is that you can choose to make only one type of baked good or you can make a number of different baked goods depending on how many people you need to feed.

Don’t try to stuff your oven too full. At most, you’ll want to cook two pies, four loaves of bread, and one large sheet of cookies at a time in one oven. Putting too many things in one oven can drastically change the temperature settings. Also, putting a dry item with a moist item in the oven at the same time can change the temperature needs. Read directions, plan ahead, and you’ll be fine.

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (6)

Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe

Yield: 36

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

A soft Italian biscotti recipe that is easy to make and tastes just like Nonna's.

Ingredients

  • Cookies
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 cup milk
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • icing
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

    Preheat oven to 400.

Line baking sheets with silicon mats and set aside

In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. (about 3 minutes)

Add eggs, milk & vanilla and mix to combine.

Add all the dry ingredients and blend together.

Use about one tablespoon of dough and roll out into a rope and then twist into the desired shape.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

While the cookies cool, mix the icing.

Dip the cooled cookie tops in the icing (will be a bit runny) and top with sprinkles if desired.

Let icing dry completely before storing an an airtight container.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 36Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 112Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 44mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 10gProtein: 2g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

If you enjoyed this biscotti recipe, have a look at our other Italian Recipes too!

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Blueberry Almond Biscotti

Almond Biscotti

Carrot Cake Biscotti

Chocolate Coconut Biscotti

Biscotti from a Cake Mix

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Soft Italian Biscotti Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make biscotti less hard? ›

For softer cookies, simply bake them for a little less time than the recipe specifies. For biscotti that can stand up to dunking, bake until they are as crunchy as you like.

What is the difference between American and Italian biscotti? ›

Here it is, a biscotti recipe everyone can enjoy — unlike classic Italian biscotti, which are quite hard, these are light and crunchy. Biscotti bake twice rather than once, and thus take a bit longer start-to-finish than normal drop cookies.

Is biscotti better with oil or butter? ›

Some purists will tell you that they should only be made with oil. But, step aside from tradition for a second and you might find it helpful to use a little bit of butter, which may be the difference between perfectly crunchy biscotti and ones that may be too hard to bite on.

What is the secret to making biscotti? ›

12 Tips For Making The Absolute Best Biscotti
  1. Use room-temperature ingredients. ...
  2. Boost the flavor with spices, extracts, and zest. ...
  3. Toss in some add-ins for flavor and texture. ...
  4. Let the dough chill before shaping. ...
  5. Use floured or greased hands to shape the dough. ...
  6. Shape the dough into a smaller loaf than you want.
May 29, 2023

Should you chill biscotti dough before baking? ›

My recipe says to refrigerate biscotti dough 30 minutes before the first baking.

What does baking soda do in biscotti? ›

Baking soda – baking soda helps the biscotti rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn't expired. Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.

Is biscotti supposed to be soft or hard? ›

Biscotti are hard, crunchy cookies as they are usually baked twice - the word biscotti is derived from Italian - "bis" meaning "twice" and "cotti" meaning "cooked".

How far in advance can you make biscotti? ›

How Long Does Biscotti Last? Your homemade biscotti will last for up to one month in an airtight container at room temperature. If you want to keep the biscotti longer, you can freeze it for up to three months.

What's the difference between biscotti and cantuccini? ›

The main difference between Cantucci and Biscotti is their origin, Cantucci is from Tuscany, and Biscotti is from the region of Emilia-Romagna. Cantucci is typically made with almonds, while Biscotti are made with all-purpose flour and a variety of nuts and chocolate or nothing.

How do you know when biscotti are done? ›

If the biscotto feels soft, like a piece of cake, give it another 5 minutes in the oven. If it feels firm but still gives a bit when you poke it, take it out for rather soft-textured but still crunchy biscotti.

What happens if you forget baking powder in biscotti? ›

Most baked goods need a leavening agent to make them rise, and if you leave it out, your cake or your cookies will fall flat. Baking powder makes dough rise because it contains both a base and an acid in dried form.

Why do my biscotti crumble when I cut them? ›

A: Overbaking the logs of dough during the first baking can make the slices crumble as you are cutting them. Also, even if the logs of dough are perfectly baked, they will crumble if they are sliced while still warm, so be patient. The logs crumble when you use a dull knife, too.

Why are my biscotti still soft? ›

If the biscotto feels soft, like a piece of cake, give it another 5 minutes in the oven. If it feels firm but still gives a bit when you poke it, take it out for rather soft-textured but still crunchy biscotti.

What to do if biscotti dough is too dry? ›

When mixing the biscotti dough, you may find that it's dry and crumbly. Persevere. Use your hands to gently squeeze the batter until it begins to form a dough. If it's really dry, you may need to add an extra egg or some other liquid related to the recipe such as extract or liqueur.

How do you soften biscotti cookies? ›

Simply lay the bread at the bottom of the container and pile your cookies on top of it, seal the lid, and wait a few hours. The cookies will soak up all the moisture from the bread and by the next morning, they will taste as good as the day they came out of the oven gooey.

How do you make cookies less hard? ›

The easiest way to soften cookies with bread is to place the cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread and leave them for a few hours. The bread will release moisture and help to rehydrate the cookies, making them soft and chewy once again.

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