Grandma's Biscotti Recipe (2024)

Pamela — February 27, 2023 @ 3:37 pm Reply

I love most of your recipes but I did not care for this one. I weighed all ingredients to be accurate but the dough did not spread which created a very odd shaped biscotti. Even pressing down the dough before baking didn’t help much. They were very dry, crumbly and did not have much flavor. I even added a bit of salt as someone else recommended and added more extract. I will not make these again, but like I said, I enjoy most of your recipes!

Mimi — November 13, 2022 @ 9:07 pm Reply

I made these the other day and they came out great. I couldn’t find Butternut flavoring so I used half vanilla and half almond and used sliced almonds in place of the walnuts. Made half recipe and did first bake in my 2 biscotti pans. Came out the perfect size. So easy, this is now my go to biscotti recipe. Thank you.

Lisa McCastlain — September 25, 2021 @ 7:23 am Reply

This recipe is amazing! I started making this about a year ago and it is now my family favorite as well. I dip the ends of each one in some melted white chocolate and it is delicious! I absolutely recommend this recipe.

carol yedowitz — February 24, 2021 @ 8:44 am Reply

what is butternut flavoring?

Judy — October 3, 2020 @ 9:09 am Reply

Fabulous biscotti!!! I enjoyed one with my morning coffee today ! I followed the recipe to a T & love the texture !!! I flavored them with anise & vanilla & it gave them just the right flavor like my Italian gramma used to make ! This is the recipe I’ll always use now & I was surprised how easy they were to make ! So now I’m looking forward to adding nuts & fruits next time !!! But just plain are great ! Yummy 😋

Jo Ann Clipp — October 3, 2020 @ 6:26 am Reply

Very good by the way McCormacks vanilla butternut flavoring goes by the name cookie batter now.

Ela — September 23, 2020 @ 4:25 pm Reply

Hi Michelle, thanks for posting your grandma’s biscotti. I have a question, is 375F, 20 minutes second baking correct? I’ve been baking biscotti’s and usually the second baking is lower than the first baking and it’s at 325F only for 20-25 minutes, it always comes out right. Thanks.

Macy — September 22, 2020 @ 10:21 pm Reply

You had me at “one day.” I read this post early this morning and almost lost it when I got to the part about you having coffee with your Grandma one day….so I had to come later and read. Yes one day is so right. I so miss my Grandma too….but one day, I’ll see her too. She would have loved your recipes.

So excited I have all of the ingredients to make these except for the extract but I found they are both readily available. Thanks so much for the links you provide to find ingredients in your recipes. Appreciate the extra work you always put in for your readers.

P.s. still ended up tearing up. Just touching to talk about our Grandmas.

Judy — September 22, 2020 @ 1:58 pm Reply

Michelle I can’t wait to make your Grandmas Biscotti recipe!!! It looks yummy 😋 I’m going to add nuts & dried fruit ! I let you know how it turns out 😊

Lisa m — June 25, 2020 @ 9:20 pm Reply

Made these for mywedding cookie table. My dad had a taste test tonight. He is right from italy and he loved them. in matter of fact most of my Italian family said they were fantastic. I used anice instead for these. Awesome recipe!! Thank you so much. Also mad about chocolate biscotti. Another five stars!!!

Elizabeth — May 13, 2020 @ 9:44 pm Reply

This was an utter failure for me. When I went to cut the log after cooking for 25 min, the middle was still raw. Looking at other’s comments, I think the recipe has too much flour. Perhaps if you gave more description as to the consistency of the dough, it would turn out better. I had never made biscotti before so I didn’t know what the dough should be like.

Gia — March 27, 2020 @ 12:36 pm Reply

This recipe reminds me so much of my loving grandmother- she always used butternut flavoring for her biscotti and sometimes even took the biscotti dough and shaped it into simple cookies to enjoy as well. So many treasured memories of my childhood reading this post- remembering having these even before their second bake and sinking my little girl teeth into them!! Thank you so much for this!!❤️❤️

Pamela — August 3, 2019 @ 2:10 pm Reply

I’ve been baking for 40 plus years and making biscotti for 20 years. I was disappointed with this recipe. The logs did not spread at all, but did puff up. Cutting these biscotti was very difficult and produced a lot of broken pieces. I would suggest more extract because I did not think they had much flavor. I would not make these again. I don’t like leaving negative comments but this is a lot of ingredients to be disappointed in the end. This recipe also needs salt. But I do appreciate and understand about recipes that have been passed down and how we love them and the memories that they provide for us.

J Black — March 4, 2019 @ 7:52 pm Reply

Easy to make, but add a quarter teaspoon freshly ground salt to bring out the flavor. I also added homemade citron and made a lemon glaze because I like more flavor, but it would be good without either

Christine Roberts — September 14, 2018 @ 3:34 pm Reply

Hi Michelle, while this recipe looks delicious, WHAT HAPPENED to my beloved biscotti recipe that was here before? The christmas baking basic biscotti. It was my go-to recipe and I can’t find it, it’s only linking to Grandmas biscotti recipe. Please help!!

Neil Frank — September 12, 2018 @ 8:35 am Reply

Want to try this recipe but would like to substitute butter for oil. What do you think!

kat — June 19, 2018 @ 9:52 am Reply

Thanks for the biscotti recipe. I dont have anise extract, can i use real anisette????? If yes, how much should i use equal to the extract? Thanks for reply.

Maria — June 14, 2018 @ 3:36 pm Reply

Tried this recipe mostly because of the beautiful story that came with it. I loved the fact the biscotti are not hard….however, not sure if I did something wrong….they have hardly any flavour….I used 1 tablespoon anise extract…but will try again with 2 tablespoons. They certainly were easy enough to make and the story was worth it! ciao

Linda P — December 21, 2017 @ 11:28 pm Reply

Also I forgot to ask, how much of the walnuts and cherries would you add to this recipe ?

Linda P — December 21, 2017 @ 11:21 pm Reply

A while ago I had some Biscotti made with cherries and walnuts. They were delicious. If I used this recipe adding walnuts and well drained chopped Maraschino Cherries, do you think they would come out ok?

Mary M. — September 15, 2017 @ 12:49 pm Reply

This makes a giant batch of biscotti! I personalized the flavor by switching out butternut flavoring with instant coffee and adding black walnuts. This makes a wonderful autumnal biscotti perfect for coffee dunking!

Bakers were wondering how to store Biscotti. I have a large old glass mayonnaise jar, probably gallon size, where I store my Biscotti. It is always perfect, never dry! Glass is great!

Kyra — September 6, 2016 @ 1:41 pm Reply

Didn’t know the butternut flavouring existed. Thank you for that and the recipe. It’s currently in the oven as I type this…. And smelled divine. Only question I have is that it bent my whisk for the stand mixer… So I was wondering if yours was more sturdy (didn’t have that problem) or if you switch to hand mixing or a different attachment when the flour makes it too thick?

Leslie — April 1, 2016 @ 12:42 am Reply

I made this recipe exactly as directed. ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! As always, your directions are easy to follow, and the results are so delicious. I thought biscotti was supposed to be difficult. Not so. Also, I am so glad you recommended the butternut flavoring. What a find!

Leslie — February 23, 2016 @ 10:10 pm Reply

Thank you so much for this recipe and the KA butternut flavor recommendation. I ordered it and made the biscotti right away. I’ve learned to trust you and your recipes. This is fantastic and easy to follow, as always.

Rachel — January 8, 2016 @ 9:59 am Reply

Hi Michelle,
I love your blog and stories, they are wonderful! Can I easily halve this recipe? I love biscotti but 6 dozen is a lot for me and my husband to eat on our own (because we would).
Thanks!
Rachel

Chandana — December 16, 2015 @ 4:30 pm Reply

Hello Michelle,
Can you please let me know which brand of butternut flavoring do you use? I have never heard of it until now.
Thank you!

Sue — June 2, 2015 @ 3:31 pm Reply

I’ve been making and thoroughly enjoying these biscotti for a few months now. I do have a question though. I can only cram 6 cups of flour into the recipe. Should I add more milk? I certainly have no objection to ending up with more biscotti!

Skye — April 13, 2015 @ 9:09 pm Reply

Recipe looks so good! Going to make your biscotti tomorrow with dried cherries and white chocolate chunks. I might paint the bottoms with white chocolate when the are done. A tiny drizzle of the melted chocolate would be so pretty

Thanks for your memories and recipes. I’ll let you know how thee flavors turn out tomorrow! :)

April J — February 22, 2015 @ 2:03 pm Reply

I just made a batch of your biscotti. Inspired by your Gramma story, I chose your recipe over several others! I went for the toasted walnut addition due to the fact that I only had regular vanilla on hand for flavoring. They’re not quite cool yet, but was wondering two things? a) is the dough supposed to be so tough that scraping the bowl empty takes two hands? (lol) and b) when complete are they a very dry biscotti or a little bit softer in texture? I am hoping to tweak this to perfection! Tastes great though! (I could not wait to test one). Wonderful stories and very easy recipe! Thank you.

Galpal — November 28, 2014 @ 9:21 pm Reply

I too am from an Italian family that grew up on biscotti’s year round. I’d give ANYTHING to have my grandmother back for even one hour. I love sharing her recipes. Since your grandmother made large batches I wonder if you’d share your ideas about storage of the biscotti. I have found that tupperware storage takes the crispness out of them. I store my pizalle waffles in large tins with covers. I would do the same with biscotti. Care to comment?

xtina — November 19, 2014 @ 9:51 am Reply

Definitely gotta use butternut! It really does add the extra something, I’ve been making biscotti off and on for years and lose the specific recipes in between, but I’ve run out of butternut and had trouble finding it again and tried making it without and they just aren’t as good. I was actually about to make a batch now that it’s getting really cold again and I’m back on my hot coffee diet again. Lol….Anyways I came across your post and I was so happy to see your tip on butternut bc most people don’t know about it. I came. A r it by accident years ago making homemade fondant and got a tip to use it to make more of a tootsie roll flavor and have loved it since, I personally favor it more then vanilla now lol.

Hi Pam , I tried the biscotti repcie but I found it hard to slice them into thin slices and secondly how do I make them a little less hard and a little more softer ? any tips on that ?

These look like the perfect classic biscotti. That last paragraph brought a tear to my eye. I wish I could spend more time with her every day.

Dina — January 10, 2014 @ 10:24 am Reply

i never heard of the butternut flavoring. will have to try it. they look great for tea!

I really wonder how grandmas did it. Everyone I talk to says that their grandma’s recipes are vague. Maybe there was just more time to remember or experiment, then we have today. I bet it was fun to tackle the recipe with your mom though :)

We make biscotti’s every so often but they really are a treat!!! I am glad your able to share this recipe – biscotti’s are a classic that everyone needs a taste of!

Michelle,
I love family recipes. I can’t wait to try your Grandmother’s Biscotti recipe.
I’ve taught my sister how to make my Grandmother’s pizzelle recipe with the same non-electric iron as my Grandmother’s iron. It’s important to keep the memories and traditions in the family.
Annamaria

Ala — January 8, 2014 @ 2:11 pm Reply

Making biscotti is such a treat–I also adore old-timer recipes. One time my aunt shared an old jello cheesecake recipe with me that simply said “3 cups whip cream” and I asked if that meant pre-whipping or ‘whipped’ cream, and she just gave me a funny sidelong look and said, “cream, of course.” D’oh. Still, there’s nothing like it, and I can’t wait to try this recipe–thanks for sharing!

I love reading about cherished family recipes. Your biscotti look wonderful!

What a lovely story…I’m glad you were able to recreate your grandmother’s signature recipe and share it with us!

Emilie — January 7, 2014 @ 7:58 pm Reply

This looks like a great recipe, Michelle. I’ve made biscotti a couple of times and wasn’t “wowed” so am definitely going to give it a try. Thanks so much to you and your mom for figuring it out! And BTW, the vanilla butternut flavor from KAF is SO totally worth it. I discovered it about a year ago and sub a teeny bit of it for the vanilla in many of the sweet baked goods I make. It is an amazing addition!

This is a lovely post. I bet your grandma is smiling down!

Beth — January 7, 2014 @ 7:29 pm Reply

I love anise also but no one in my family does. The butternut flavoring is great too. I make a cake in a flute pan with cherries, nuts and butternut flavoring and it bakes for hours. I’m definitely going to try these. They sound delicious.

Laurie — January 7, 2014 @ 4:27 pm Reply

Happy New Year from Pittsburgh! Thanks for your thoughtfulness in sharing your grandmothers recipe. I will be honored to make it. I’ve never heard of butternut flavoring so I’m looking forward to trying it as well as other flavors.

Nancy Long — January 7, 2014 @ 2:34 pm Reply

haaven’t seen butternut flavoring in years. My mother used to make a cake with it. Will have to go scouring the stores. We love biscotti and for some reason I haven’t made it in quite a while. Will have to get back to it. Hubby loves my pistachio and dried cranberry ones.

I’ve never heard of butternut flavoring but I’m certainly going to be on the look out for it now. I miss my Grammie too – making pizzelles always makes me think of her. Grandparents are so awesome – terrible when they aren’t around any more!!

Karen Wood — January 7, 2014 @ 1:33 pm Reply

Thank you. You can’t beat having someone’s Grandma’s recipe and these look delicious. I have other biscotti recipes and wondered what was up with the anise in all of them. I don’t like anise as well as a lot of herbs and spices. Glad to know it’s okay to use something else. I always wondered what butternuts taste like too.

What a beautiful and heartfelt post. I love biscotti. My Italian grandma never made them, but there were always store-bought ones in the house that I’d eat with my grandpa. I will definitely need to make these soon!

Kathy — January 7, 2014 @ 11:44 am Reply

Biscotti has been on my must make list for years and I have never gotten around to it. I need to remedy that soon!

I adore biscotti, mainly because I am big black coffee drinker. Thank you for sharing such personal recipes; they are always the best ones in my eyes.

This recipe sounds so simple and those biscotti look delightful. Thank you for sharing a little piece of your grandma with us. Beautiful!

Jordan Lynn // Life Between Lattes — January 7, 2014 @ 10:07 am Reply

I’ve never made biscotti, but they seem like the perfect afternoon snack – kind of like afternoon tea, but with biscotti and coffee instead of tea and scones. Looks really good!

Kirsten — January 7, 2014 @ 9:28 am Reply

I can’t wait to try this! Thank you for sharing!

Grandmas know best! Love your comment about there being more in another tin–that’s how my gma rolled with her cookies too!

AndreaL — January 7, 2014 @ 9:18 am Reply

I’ve never tackled biscotti but this looks like I can handle them. I love seeing your grandmother’s recipes. Always makes me think of my mother.
Seeing your comment about the anise made me think of my father. Whenever we made anything with anise, we couldn’t add enough oil, extract or seeds to get it to his point of liking. I’m glad that we can try these without :)

Theresa D — January 7, 2014 @ 9:00 am Reply

Yay! I have been waiting for this one! I have been wanting to make biscotti and every time I would read a post about your grandmother’s I would wonder when you were going to post it. So excited!!

nancy k — January 7, 2014 @ 8:17 am Reply

I love making and gifting biscotti. I have a go to recipe that uses 1/4 cup of butter that is cut into the flour/sugar mixture…no mixer needed. I have found it makes for a very different/rustic texture that people seem to love. I have fun with different flavors and combinations of add-ins…toasted pecans and mini chocolate chips seems to be everyone’s favorite. I have tried recipes that have no fat at all but have never tried a recipe with vegatable oil. I am interested to try this one but I think I will have to cut the recipe in half. I could easily overdose on biscotti if i have them in the house! Thanks for sharing this special recipe.

Lori — January 7, 2014 @ 8:10 am Reply

Thanks so much for sharing your Grandmother’s treasured recipe. I am going to give it a try.

Andrea — January 7, 2014 @ 8:05 am Reply

I don’t know why, but I’ve never even been tempted to make biscotti, but your story and these photos are wonderful. I think I might give it go!

Ann S. — January 7, 2014 @ 7:54 am Reply

Could I sub almond extract & almonds?

I just made my first biscotti and were surprised at how easy they were! These look like my next batch! Love the butternut flavour addition. My morning coffee is going to love these. But, probably not as much as my belly will!

Debbie S — January 7, 2014 @ 7:16 am Reply

I love the story about your grandmother. Both of my grandmothers are gone. But, I still have my mom and I am hoarding her family recipes. Those are some of my favorite memories, baking with her when I was growing up. Thanks for the stories. I always enjoy getting your emails!

Wendy B — January 7, 2014 @ 7:09 am Reply

What a lovely story about your beloved grandmother! Thanks for sharing it and the recipe. I always enjoy your blog! :)

Oh I just love biscotti and your grandmas recipe sounds amazing! I love family recipes, they always taste the best! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

Judith - Texas — January 7, 2014 @ 6:07 am Reply

I made Biscotti for the first time last week and now I’m hooked (hubby more so!) Just added your Grandma’s recipe to my growing stash of Biscotti recipes; plan on making her’s today. Thanks so much for the touching tribute to your Grandma and for sharing her recipe.

Harry — January 7, 2014 @ 4:08 am Reply

What can I use instead of the vanilla butter nut flavouring? We don’t get it or even something similar here in South Africa and I don’t even have an idea what it is. Would love to try this recipe.

Thanks for sharing your grandma’s recipe and the stories. My vote would be for vanilla butternut flavoring over anise :) Beautiful job on this!

Michelle C. — January 7, 2014 @ 12:59 am Reply

This is wonderful and I can so relate. My grandmother passed in June and we’ve been going through her recipes. I’ve now become the baker of the family, a role I took on over the last few years as my grandma wasn’t able do as much. I have yet to tackle her biscotti or wandies. Seeing you tackle this has inspired me to try her recipe :-)
PS. Aren’t Italian grandmas the BEST :-)