These hazelnut biscotti are helping take me back to roaming the streets of Rome and Florence.
During our trip in Italy, we treated ourselves to cornetti with some of our cappuccinos. We loved the baked goodies offered at the cafes and bars (not to mention how inexpensive they were).
We thought cornetti referred to all pastries, but on our last day we discovered that it was actually just the croissants.
Luckily that’s what we ordered most of the time, but there were at least a couple of mistaken orders! We had some amazing cornetti filled with pudding, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and one whole wheat version filled with strawberry jelly.
Sometimes I wasn’t sure if I wanted the coffee or the cornetti more!
Hazelnut Biscotti
Hazelnut BiscottiBecause we stayed in apartments during our trip, we visited the local markets to buy food for breakfast and the occasional dinner at home.
Just like my dad taught me, I ogled at every bakery case and bread basket offering. I wanted to buy and try everything but what really caught my eye were the biscotti.
I almost always have lemon almond biscotti in our house to enjoy with my iced coffee (his espresso on the weekends), but I wanted to try the real thing and see how they compared!
We bought one bag to bring home and taste. They are obviously super delicious and don’t taste too much different than my homemade version.
Inspired by new flavors and craving a cardamom and nutella combination after a recent honey cardamom cake I made recently, I whipped up a batch of these hazelnut biscotti to enjoy with my coffee.
They aren’t cornetti in a cafe in Roma, but they’re pretty tasty just the same!
Where do you get cardamom?
Cardamom is an Indian spice, but it’s available in most grocery stores or you can buy it online. You want to make sure you get ground cardamom and not the ‘pods’ they come in.
The pods are like a protective shell round the cardamom seeds (which are then ground). Breaking open the cardamom pods requires a mortar and pestle along with quite a bit of patience!!
How to Chop Hazelnuts?
If you’ve ever tried to chop hazelnuts (or almonds) with your standard chopping knife like you do with pecans or walnuts, you know the feeling of getting nowhere and flinging nuts all over the kitchen!
My secret? If you’re having trouble chopping these nuts, carefully, use a serrated knife (yep, the big bread knife). The teeth sink easily into the nuts, preventing the fling!
Since the hazelnut biscotti require chopping midway through the baking process, you won’t be adding any more dishes to your sink either!
More Biscotti Recipes
Want more biscotti in your life? I always do. Try these lemon almond biscotti, dried date and orange biscotti, and these cranberry biscotti!
And if you love cookies as much as we do, you’ll love these peanut butter granola cookies, muesli cookies, easy butter pecan cookies, key lime cookies, and pistachio shortbread!
HAZELNUT BISCOTTI
I'm not usually one to indulge with my morning or afternoon coffee, but I can never pass up a biscotti. It's just the perfect amount of sweet, crunch, and bliss! These hazelnut biscotti are one of my absolute favorite flavor combinations - great in tea and coffee!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All Purpose flour
- ¾ Cup cornmeal
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 1 Cup sugar plus more for sprinkling on top
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ Cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts*
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
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In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine sugar and eggs until thoroughly combined. Add in vanilla and then flour mixture. If dough doesn't come together easily, add up to one tablespoon water. Stir in hazelnuts. Let dough stand five minutes.
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With moist hands, divide the dough in half. Form into two equal mounds (about one-inch high). With wet hands, pat the top of the mounds. Sprinkle with sugar.
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Bake for thirty minutes until lightly browned. Cool for five minutes.
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Cut mounds into ¾-inch diagonal slices. Arrange biscotti on their side on pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until cookies are golden brown.
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Let cool completely.
Recipe Notes
*Use a serrated knife to chop the hazelnuts to keep them from flying all over the place. Can be stored in sealed bag in freezer for up to one month.
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Luci Petlack says
I adore biscotti but have never made it. Yours looks great. PS – beautiful pix 🙂
Luci Petlack says
Yummmmm–my dad loves biscotti!
Luci Petlack says
Hello little crunchy beauties! Such a great idea for an afternoon snack (or tea party 🙂
Luci Petlack says
I love biscotti because they aren't too sweet, aka I can eat one after another after another… although I definitely love cornetti too. 🙂 You'll have to tell me all about staying in apartments. Not like I'm traveling abroad anytime in the next 18 years… but you never know! What a fabulous idea. Also, your pictures are just gorgeous! All of them. Nicely done.
Luci Petlack says
They are really quite easy. I whip up a batch whenever I'm in the mood and throw them in the freezer. And thank you – I still have so much to learn for my food photography!
Luci Petlack says
morning, afternoon, and evening! I'm totally addicted to these. A tea party would be so much fun!!
Luci Petlack says
I have the same issue. I think that's why putting them in the freezer has become a must for me! I will tell you everything about our trip! And I'm so happy you like the pics. They reminded me of you. I must be learning something after all! 😉
Luci Petlack says
Mmmmm I could so go for one of these right now! Absolutely love biscotti! And your pictures came out so well!
Patricia says
I made these and it seems to me that some kind of liquid is missing….maybe melted butter or oil as it was very very dry. I ended up adding some melted butter. I doubled the recipe as I love cardamom….perhaps should have waited til the next batch. They tasted awesome though and I loved the texture created by the cornmeal
Luci Petlack says
Hi Patricia! I’m so happy to find a fellow cardamom lover. It’s such an underappreciated spice.
Yes, these biscotti are VERY crunchy – perfect for dunking into a drink to soften up (but not disintegrate). Other biscotti recipes to have melted butter or oil, so you can certainly do just what you did for a softer cookie (that doesn’t require the dunking).