Biscotti (plural of Italian biscotto, roughly meaning "twice baked") are crisp Italian cookies often containing nuts or flavored with anise. Traditionally, biscotti are made by baking cookie dough in two long slabs, cutting these into slices, and reheating them to dry them out. A basic recipe is a mix two parts flour with one part sugar with enough eggs to create a stiff batter. To the mixture baking powder and flavorings such as anise, chocolate, or nuts are added. The slabs are baked once for about twenty-five minutes. They are then cut up into individual cookies and baked again for a shorter period. The longer this second baking is, the harder the cookies will be. Originally the cookies were twice-baked so they could be stored for long periods of time; because of this storage potential, they historically have been used widely by explorers and soldiers.
Biscotti come in many variants; in different regions of Italy, biscotti are prepared or flavoured differently. In Tuscany they are often eaten with vin santo, though in other parts of the world (particularly the United States) biscotti are considered an essential part of the espresso bar experience. The generally hard texture of biscotti makes the cookie ideal for dipping in coffee, tea or wine. It should be noted that in Italian, the word "biscotti" has come to be used as a generic word which refers simply to any cookie (including the Amaretto biscuit), while in English this word refers to the more specific Italian description "biscotti di Prato" (sometimes "cantucci" or "cantuccini").
Etymology: Italian, from Medieval Latin bis coctus, meaning "twice cooked". Cf. English biscuit and German zwieback.
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