This is not your ordinary biscotti! This pecan biscotti is perfectly crisp and flavorful and is delicious on its own or with a cup of coffee! I’ve been making it for over 20 years!
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“Palm Beach Biscotti”
This is a recipe that has been a favorite of mine for years. In fact, I’ve been making this biscotti so long that I forgot where I originally got the inspiration or why it was named Palm Beach Biscotti!
After a little digging, I found the original version in Maida Heatter’s Brand New Book of Great Cookies that was published in 1995 and I had borrowed from the library a long time ago. I’m sure that I might have added my own little touches to this recipe, but I still want to give credit where credit is due!
Now, to the name! The story is that Palm Beach hostesses competed to see who could make the thinnest biscotti. To this day, this remains one of my favorite cookies! It is not flavorless like some commercial biscotti is. You can really taste the flavors from the butter and nuts.
Before I tried this recipe, I had never made biscotti before. I’m not sure if I had even tasted biscotti at that time, living in my small town, before biscotti and coffee shops were common.
The process is a little labor intensive. I recommend you read it through thoroughly before you start. You make the batter and bake it in loaf pans. Then you bake the loafs, let cool, and then freeze. After the loafs are frozen, you remove from the freezer, slice, and bake the slices.
This double baking technique results in a perfectly crisp flavorful cookie!
What is Biscotti?
The word biscotti means “double baked” in Latin and the food itself originated in Italy. The double baking was done to remove all moisture, so that the cookies or bread would keep longer.
The dough was often formed into a log shape and baked on a flat sheet. Then after baking it was sliced and then baked again.
These days, little individual biscotti cookies are a staple in coffee shops. I know that type of biscotti has a reputation for being hard and flavorless, but don’t let that keep you from trying THIS recipe!
This pecan biscotti recipe is baked in a loaf pan; the individual slices have a unique shape and are much thinner than traditional biscotti. That’s right, no more thick slices that are almost impossible to bite into! This pecan biscotti is flavorful and delightful, with just the right amount of sweetness!
Pecan Biscotti Ingredients
- Sifted, unbleached flour — You can use all purpose flour, but look for the unbleached type
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Sugar
- Large eggs
- Pecan halves (or large pieces)
Kitchen Tools Used
- Stand Mixer or Electric Hand Mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Loaf Pans
- Baking Sheets
- Wire Cooling Rack
How to Make Palm Beach Biscotti
This recipe is actually fairly simple, but it does require planning ahead. That’s because you’ll be baking the batter into loafs, freezing them, then slicing and “double-baking” the slices to make your final biscotti.
Make sure that you allow a few hours for freezing into your recipe time!
Baking Instructions: Part One
Adjust oven rack so that it is one-third of the way up from the bottom of the oven and pre-heat oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Butter your loaf pans, then dust thoroughly with fine, dry breadcrumbs and shake out the loose crumbs.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy. (If using a stand mixer, I recommend the paddle attachment).
Mix in sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Finally, mix in the the eggs, one at a time. Add the sifted flour mixture and beat on low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula and beating only until dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter.
Stir in the nuts.
You will have about 4 cups of better. Place half in each pan. The pans will be less than half full. Smooth the tops. The with the bottom of a large spoon, form a deep trench down the length of each pan—this will help prevent a high mound in the middle of each loaf.
Bake both pans on the same rack for about 55 minutes, reversing the pans front to back after about 30 minutes to ensure even baking, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. The pans will only be about two-thirds full.
Remove pans for the oven. The baked loaves have a crust on top, which would normally crumble when you slice them. To prevent that, wet and wring out a paper towel until it is thoroughly damp, but not dripping.
Open the paper towel, fold in half, and place it directly on top of one of the loaves. Then cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil and fold the foil down over the sides of the pan to keep the steam in. Repeat with the second loaf.
Freeze both loaves for at least several hours.
“The Double Baking”
For the second baking, adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Place frozen loaf right side up on a cutting board. Use a long, thin knife with a sharp straight blade. A thin serrated knife, or bread knife would also work.
Cut slowly and carefully. If the loaf is too hard to slice neatly, just wait a few minutes and try again. The slices should be ¼ inch thick (thin).
Place slices, cut side down, right next to each other on your prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the second loaf or save that for another time.
Bake two sheets at a time. Reverse sheets top to bottom and front to back frequently during baking to ensure even baking.
Bake until dry and a pale golden color — about 15 to 25 minutes depending on the thickness of your slices.
TIP: Do not over bake. Watch them carefully as soon as they start to color they can suddenly become too dark.
Remove the slices one at a time when they are ready and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
What is the Best Way to Store Biscotti?
Once completely cooled, place biscotti in an airtight container. Keep at room temperature away from direct sunlight or heat sources.
When properly stored, your homemade biscotti should keep for about 2 weeks.
Pecan Biscotti Recipe (Printable Copy)
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"Palm Beach Biscotti" Pecan Biscotti Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Mixer
- 2 loaf pans
- Baking sheets
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 4 oz unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 4 eggs large
- 10 oz pecan halves 3 cups
Instructions
Preparation
- Set your oven rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and pre-heat to 350°F.
- Butter two loaf pans with about a 6-cup capacity. Dust the pans thoroughly with fine, dry breadcrumbs and shake out the loose crumbs.
The Dough
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until soft and creamy. (If using a stand mixer, I recommend the paddle attachment).
- Mix in sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Finally, mix in the the eggs, one at a time. Add the sifted flour mixture and beat on low speed, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula and beating only until dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter.
- Stir in the nuts.
- You will have about 4 cups of better. Place half in each pan. The pans will be less than half full. Smooth the tops. The with the bottom of a large spoon, form a deep trench down the length of each pan—this will help prevent a high mound in the middle of each loaf.
The First Baking
- Bake both pans on the same rack for about 55 minutes, reversing the pans front to back after about 30 minutes to insure even baking, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. The pans will only be about two-thirds full.
- Remove pans for the oven. The baked loaves have a crust on top, which would rumble when you slice them. To prevent that, wet and wring out a paper towel, it should remain wet but not dripping.
- Open the paper towel, fold in half, and place it directly on top of one of the loaves. Then cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil and fold the foil down over the sides of the pan to keep the steam in. Repeat with the second loaf.
- Freeze both loaves for several hours or as long as you wish.
The Second Baking
- For the second baking, adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Place frozen loaf right side up on a cutting board. Use a long, thin knife with a sharp straight blade.
- Cut slowly and carefully. If the loaf is too hard to slice neatly, just wait a few minutes and try again. The slices should be ¼ inch thick (thin).
- Place slices, cut side down, right next to each other on a lined cookie sheet. Repeat with the second loaf or save that for another time.
- Bake two sheets at a time. Reverse sheets top to bottom and front to back frequently during baking to insure even baking.
- Bake until dry and a pale golden color. It will take 15 to 25 minutes depending on thickness.
- Do not over bake. Watch them carefully as soon as they start to color they can suddenly become too dark.
- Remove the slices one at a time when they are ready. Transfer them to a rack or place them on paper towels.
- Let cool and store in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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When do you incorporate the 1 sticking butter in the biscotti recipe?
Thanks for the catch. The instructions were in the body of the post but not on the recipe card. I’ve fixed it so you can see where the butter is incorporated. It’s in its own bowl, before sugar, eggs, etc. Sara