Fig & Walnut Biscotti
We're Italian and so we have eaten our fair share of biscotti. In fact, we probably ate more biscotti by the time we were 10 years old than most people eat in their entire lives. Our grandma made weekly batches and would keep them in cookie jars and tins around the house. Anytime someone visited, she had something to put out with coffee. And we spent a lot of time at our Grandma’s. We never liked coffee, but we started dipping biscotti when we were a kid. It’s the only time coffee tastes good to us. And these biscotti? We think they’ve officially moved into #2 in terms of our favorite biscotti ever. First are ones made with anisette. Not anise – anisette. Our grandfather used to put a shot of it in his coffee and biscotti flavored with anisette and then dunked in coffee? Sublime. Oh but these, these are our new favorite. And they are definitely worthy of packaging up and gifting for the holidays.
The biscotti dough is flavored with orange zest and anise seed, and copious amounts of chopped dried figs and walnuts are mixed in. We are an absolute fig nut. We love them. It’s the reason that cucidati are one of our favorite cookies and why we immediately jumped at a fig-almond cheesecake on a restaurant menu. Anytime we see a recipe with figs we immediately want to make it, and these biscotti were no exception. We also love these because they are a somewhat different texture than we're used to. Most biscotti we make are toasted and crisp; while these are also twice-baked, they retain a soft texture making them a little closer to an actual cookie.
If you like figs even a little, you will absolutely love the flavors in this recipe!
Plain Biscotti (vanilla flavored)
Anise-Almond Biscotti
Chocolate Biscotti
Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti
Cranberry-White Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti
Fig and Walnut Biscotti
Yield: 30 biscotti A traditional Italian biscuit with fruit and nuts- 1¾ cups (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) coarse salt
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) anise seed
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 cup (149 g) coarsely chopped dried figs, 6 ounces
- 1 cup (117 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and anise seed. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until they're thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the orange zest.
- 3. Fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the figs and walnuts.
- 4. Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and divide in two. With floured hands, shape into two logs, about 2½ inches wide and 8 to 10 inches long. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- 5. Bake until the dough is firm but gives slightly when pressed, about 25 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
- 6. Cut each log on the diagonal into ½-inch-thick slices; places slices, cut side up, on sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, flip biscotti, and bake 7 minutes more. transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
- Yield: 30 biscotti
- Prep: 20 minutes
- Cook: 25 minutes
- Total: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups ( 218.75 g ) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup ( 165 g ) dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon ( 0.75 teaspoon ) coarse salt
- ¾ teaspoon ( 0.75 teaspoon ) anise seed
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 cup ( 149 g ) coarsely chopped dried figs, 6 ounces
- 1 cup ( 117 g ) walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
- 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and anise seed. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until they're thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the orange zest.
- 3. Fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the figs and walnuts.
- 4. Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and divide in two. With floured hands, shape into two logs, about 2½ inches wide and 8 to 10 inches long. Place on prepared baking sheet.
- 5. Bake until the dough is firm but gives slightly when pressed, about 25 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
- 6. Cut each log on the diagonal into ½-inch-thick slices; places slices, cut side up, on sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, flip biscotti, and bake 7 minutes more. transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
