Dave loves biscotti, especially almond biscotti, so he was really happy about Gretchen’s pick for TWD this week. I do like biscotti, but I have trouble figuring out where it should fit into my routine. They’re too snack-like for dessert, but too unhealthy for a snack. Plus they’re kind of a hassle to make, with the slicing and the double-baking and all.
Ah, but almond extract, how I love it. The dough for this biscotti tasted really good.
There was some confusion among TWD members about what Dorie meant by “standing the biscotti slices up like a marching band” for the second baking, but looking at it now, I’m thinking she means that they should bake on the flat non-cut side of each slice. I laid them on a cut side instead, oops. I didn’t bother to flip them, but both sides seemed evenly browned regardless.
There is a reason why I do a lot of side-by-side comparisons of recipes. Not only is it the best way to spot small differences, but Dave, who is actually pretty good at picking out subtle differences in recipes, has a very bad memory for food. Whenever I ask him how one recipe compares to another, he says he’d need to taste them side-by-side.
Not so this biscotti. He knew immediately that he preferred the last biscotti recipe I made, even though I hadn’t made it in over 6 months. He likes that the other recipe is crunchier. Dorie’s biscotti were more tender than most that I’ve tried, which I don’t necessarily mind, but I’m not the main biscotti-eater around here. The reason for the difference is easy to see from a quick comparison of the recipes – Dorie’s uses almost twice as much butter.
So it looks like I’ll be sticking with my old biscotti recipe for now. If you’d like to check out Dorie’s recipe, Gretchen has it on her blog.
I agree – I’m a big fan of a more Italian-style biscotti. These were pretty tasty though!
even if they aren’t the top-rated in your house, they look mighty good!
I actually liked the fact that these were more tender than some of the very hard ones I’ve had… but now that I love biscotti (as of yesterday!) I want to try many more recipes, including your original one. Lovely photos!
Audrey
My husband does the same thing to me – side by side comparisons ! I might have to try your other recipe to see how they compare –
Pretty pictures–I love your ribbon! I will have to try your favorite biscotti recipe some time–that one looks great too!
These look so pretty! I was expecting the biscotti to be crunchy too. I’ll have to try your other recipe sometime to compare.
Lovely pictures! Glad you tried these – even if they won’t be a regular in your kitchen.
Hmm… My gut says I might have preferred the more tender of the biscotti, but I’ll have to try both to be sure 😉 And unhealthy snacks are okay in my book!
at least you gave them a shot! i really liked the tenderness in these. love your photos!
They look beautiful! Sorry you didn’t like the way yours turned out. I’m munching away on mine. . . .
Adorable with the ribbon!
They look delicious!
those picky husbands…they do look awfully good though (but so does your other recipe)!
Twice the butter! Ack!!!
These look delicious!
Cherie
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wow, the hazelnuts and dried cherries in your other biscotti recipe sound wonderful, and I’m going to bookmark it for a future baking sesson!
It’s good to get the unsolicited feeback from hubby (most of the time :P) Still your biscotti looks really delicious!
Your biscotti look fantastic! I was one of those way confused people and tried to march my biscotti! (well, I’ve never seen a marching band lying down! 🙂
You make me mad…
I check out everybody’s recipes, almost everyweek… and always try to use great words for everyone’s that I find truly and genuinely tempting, visualy good looking, etc…
Then I get to your blog, and I’m totaly out of words for I used all the hyper, super, mega, extra qualifiers and yet, I need a better one for this…
Pfff… bummer, but I’ll say B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T!
Your biscotti are lovely 🙂
these are really gorgeous!
Glad this one was well received. They are lovely.
Your biscotti look perfect and delicious. Yum! This was my first time making biscotti so I have nothing to compare it to, but I loved this recipe.
Interesting to know that you (and your husband) liked the original version. I’ll have to try that sometime!