anicini - anise and almond biscotti

Anicini (Anise flavored biscotti)

Makes: 32 Cookies 

Active Time: 15 min 

Total Time: 1 hr. 15 min, plus cooling

Also called finocchini, these biscotti are very popular in Sardegna and Liguria. I was introduced to them by a friend who prepares them for the holidays. At the time, I was pregnant and found they instantly cured my morning sickness. She was gracious enough to share her Italian grandmother's recipe with me. So now, whenever a friend has morning sickness, I make up a batch of these cookies. They are much tastier than saltine crackers.

While it might sound strange, a cookie could alleviate morning sickness; in Italy, aniseed is commonly used for its digestive properties, drinking liquors like Sambuca, an anise liquor, for 'fine pasto,' serving it at the end of a meal. 

I add almond slivers as I love my biscotti with nuts, but you can omit them as they are not part of the original recipe.

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or paste
4 teaspoons anise seed
1 tablespoon almond extract
3 3/4 cup AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup slivered almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a standing mixer, beat eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine anise seed, almond extract, flour, salt, and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until just incorporated and a soft dough begins to form.  Add the nuts and mix again, just to combine.

Scoop out dough onto a flour-dusted board and make two balls.  Form the dough into two long logs and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. (the dough is very soft and a little sticky and I wasn’t able to shape on a floured surface into logs and then transfer. Instead, I transferred directly to the parchment-lined baking sheet with dampened hands, to avoid sticking, divided into two portions and patted into two 5-by-11-inch logs.) Make sure they are at least three inches apart.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until logs have spread and are still soft to the touch but set.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer logs to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, gently slice crosswise into 1-inch-thick pieces and return to baking sheet, cut sides down.

Bake for 10 minutes, until the centers are cooked through and biscotti are nice golden and crunchy. Let cool completely before serving or storing.