Comments on: What’s life without the occasional dunk?

By: garbane

garbane — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:50:07 +0000

Tony, thank you very much for answering!
I guess I’ll just blame the flour and try again… They taste and look cute after all The tips you mentioned – extra flour and fork – that’s what I did as well. No luck, however. The thing is – I am not that novice in baking but I’ve certainly never encountered dough THAT sticky and unmanageable! But well.. I’ll try again. The biscottis are worth it

By: Antonio Tahhan

Antonio Tahhan — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:25:16 +0000

George – I love making these as party favors! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!

Teresa – Gracias! Si, no hay problema. Dime como te sale la salsa.

Franco – You should definitely make some at home!!

HoneyB – For me biscotti were one of those things I always bought but never thought to make from scratch. I also enjoy how crunchy they are

Hilda – Gracias! Espero q te animes hacerlos, son una de mis galletas favoritas.

Mackie – Let me know how the biscotti turn(ed) out!! A cilantro pesto sounds so good, especially now that summer’s here! Restaurant recommendations are always welcome Lately I’ve been on the lookout for some really good Ethiopian food… any suggestions?

Garbane – I’m so sorry to hear that because these cookies are up there with some of my favorites. I’m glad though that after everything they still tasted good. Here are a couple of ideas that came to mind as to what could have gone wrong:
- Every batch of flour has different absorbtion levels, so bench flour (extra flour that is used during the kneading process) is key for the dough to come out right.
- In order to avoid really messy fingers, I whisk the eggs (in the well) with a fork and incorporate them slowly into the flour until a semi-solid mass is formed. Then I flour my hands, add the almonds and knead it until it all comes together.
- These cookies are supposed to be hard because they are twice cooked; but they’re not supposed to be as hard as rocks, for instance. The main culprit here seems to be gluten. I’m thinking that you might have overworked the flour while trying to form the dough. You’re looking for a crisp exterior and a firm interior (but definitely not a break-a-tooth texture).
-Personally, I always dunk mine in a tall glass of ice cold milk. This also helps with the texture if you found your biscotti to be too hard.
-As for tricks, I like to use the fork during the well method to avoid a big clumpy mess on my fingers. Also, keep flour handy for your work surface and your hands to keep the dough from sticking as much.
I hope these pointers help and you get to give these cookies another go. Let me know how they turn out.
Happy baking,
Tony

By: garbane

garbane — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:22:36 +0000

The Biscottis taste lovely, but i’m not sure i will make them again.. Well, first of all, i think the quantities may be wrong.. the dough was too wet in my opinion and terribly sticky.. i dont mind getting my hands dirty but the dough acted like a superglue making it impossible to form it into anything! I had to add some more flour but even that didnt help a lot.. took me a while to make something that resembles logs.. Well, but that’s just the first problem.
As i said – they taste nice, but are so hard. I didnt exceed the time in the oven.. Are they supposed to be like that?
I was really tempted by this recipe and its a shame it didnt work out the way i expected. Did i do something wrong? Any tricks i should have known?

By: Mackie

Mackie — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:53:43 +0000

Hi Tony! I just clicked to your blog from tastespotting, and am definitely making these biscotti. I’m so excited about ATOM too…Sacha and I might try to make cilantro pesto! Hope you have a wonderful graduation and if you need any restaurant recommendations for DC, let me know!

By: Hilda

Hilda — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Hola Antonio…
Me encantan los biscotti… viendo lo estupendos que te han salido… me animaré a hacerlos…(gracias por la receta y tu blog tan estupendo)
Besos

Hilda