Vanilla bean biscotti is cookie simplicity at its best. Plain? Absolutely not. If you appreciate vanilla’s pure flavor, you’ll have a soft (crunchy?) spot for today’s recipe. Not all biscotti are created equal and there’s no one perfect way to make them, but I’ve definitely found a favorite. Over the years I’ve turned a basic biscotti recipe into almond biscotti, mocha chip biscotti, dark chocolate orange biscotti, and white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti. Today’s recipe comes without all the fluff and add-ins, but I definitely wouldn’t oppose if you added a little something to this dough. (Hazelnuts would be fantastic!)
Tell Me About Vanilla Bean Biscotti
Texture: Biscotti are a crunchy cookie. And as long as you don’t over-bake them, they won’t break your teeth. The center is crumbly in all the right ways and melts in your mouth, especially when dunked in your warm beverage of choice. If you ask me, slow cooker hot chocolate would make a glorious pairing! Flavor: Vanilla vanilla vanilla. Each bite reminded me of vanilla cake and vanilla bean St. Patrick’s Day cookies, though obviously not as sweet. (These are sweet but nowhere near as sweet as cake.) Though you can make the biscotti with regular granulated sugar, I urge you to try vanilla sugar. I could sing its praises all day long, but I’ll keep it short: why have regular sugar when you can have vanilla sugar? It makes a big flavor difference in simple recipes like this. Ease: Biscotti are twice-baked cookies, but that doesn’t mean there’s extra work involved. They might seem complicated, but the process is pretty simple and my step-by-step photos below will help. No special tools required and you don’t need a mixer. A pastry cutter is helpful for cutting in the butter, but you can get away without one. My #1 tip? Don’t overwork the dough. Yes, this recipe actually tells you to work less. Time: No cookie dough chilling required and the ingredients don’t need to come to room temperature first. You can start right now if you wanted. I LOVE THAT!
Vanilla Bean Biscotti in Step-by-Step Photos
Before you begin the full written recipe below, let me walk you through the process with some photos and quick explanations. I know you’ll find all this helpful when you begin the biscotti in your own kitchen. Get your oven preheated. Again, there’s no dough chilling needed so you can get the oven started right away. You’ll bake two trays of biscotti at the same time, but you can also bake in batches if your oven isn’t large enough. Start the dough. Combine the dry ingredients including the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. I find 1 teaspoon of baking powder is plenty to provide enough lift, but still keeps the cookies dense and crunchy. With a pastry cutter or fork, cut in cold and cubed butter until the mixture is crumbly. See the left photo below? Just like that. Then pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk eggs, oil, and vanilla together. Pour over the flour/butter mixture, as pictured on the right below: Use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to bring the ingredients together. It will be a crumbly mess. Don’t over-work or over-think this! Pour it out onto a lightly floured work surface: Using lightly floured hands, mold the dough into a ball. Do this by kneading (folding) it all together several times. Assuming you followed the recipe, I promise the crumbly mess will come together. Cut the ball in half: Flatten both halves into slabs directly on lined baking sheets. You want 8-9 inch long slabs, each about 1/2 inch thick. Brush with egg wash, which is 1 egg beaten with a little milk. If you don’t have a pastry brush, just spoon a little on each slab and spread it around to coat. See all those teeny vanilla bean specks in the dough? Flavor! Biscotti are twice-baked cookies. Bake the slabs of dough until lightly browned, remove from the oven, then cut the slabs into 8-9 1 inch wide slices. Set slices (cut sides upright) on the baking sheets and return to the oven. You’ll bake them for about 16 more minutes, flipping each cookie after 8 minutes. You’re done! Vanilla biscotti are crisp right out of the oven, but become crunchier as they cool. A dip in white chocolate is totally optional, but adds a little something extra especially if you’re serving these for dessert. (As opposed to breakfast or afternoon tea, where you may not want something quite as sweet.) Imagine these at a tea party along with petit fours or tea cakes. So fun!
Peanut Butter Blossoms M&M Cookie Bars Peppermint Snowballs Gingerbread Cookies Eggnog Oatmeal Cream Pies
And here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
