Honestly, I don’t know where the jones to make biscotti came from, nor am I certain what got me thinking of chai spices. But I just really had a taste for biscotti to go with my morning coffee, a tender cookie with warm, seasonal spices. So I came up with this easy recipe for chai spiced biscotti.
I’ve tried baking biscotti before, with limited success. Mostly, I got hung up on the step of cutting the par-baked dough into individual biscotti; they’d crumble and break or smoosh and flatten.
Leave it to the folks at King Arthur Flour to figure this out. The base recipe here stems from “The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion” (it’s an “American” style of biscotti that’s less tooth-shattering than the harder Italian style). The key technique is to spritz the baked log of dough with water and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing it into biscotti. Use a serrated knife to gently and easily slice the individual cookies on the diagonal.
The chai spices here are lovely; you could add a pinch more black pepper if you want more of a kick. They keep well at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
chai spiced biscotti Recipe
makes 14
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350°; line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour and spices. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl using a hand mixer), combine the butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract and baking powder until smooth. Add the eggs and mix to combine (the mixture may look clumpy). Add the flour and spices and stir to combine thoroughly. Use a scraper to transfer the dough to the baking sheet and roll/stretch/press the dough into a log 14 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide by 3/4 inch high. Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven; lower temperature to 325°. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Spray the top and sides of dough with water; let sit 5 minutes. Use a serrated knife to cut the log, on the diagonal, into 1/2-inch slices. Separate the slices, still standing up, about 1 inch apart. Bake 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store tightly covered.
I made these a couple of days ago – delicious! So refreshing to find a very good biscotti recipe that doesn’t have nuts in it. Thank you! Love your blog!