parmesan black pepper biscotti
Please, take us both to a cocktail party, stat!
Other sugar-free, therapeutic and refreshing crumbs:
- Sick With Excess of Sweetness: In early 19th Century London, sugar became the world’s first consumer boycott. [Via Megnut]
- A woman who makes more subversive, and therefore cooler, snowflakes than I, bowls me over with a therapeutic assortment of 26 cookies. My favorite is the note on the last one.
- “Long ago I learned that if I wanted to find recipes that fit a healthy lifestyle I did not need to turn to cookbooks so designated. They are often boring. They frequently include a formula that doesn’t interest me. Sometimes they are too rigid.” Marian Burros speaks my mind.
Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti
Adapted from Gourmet, December 2006
Makes 5 to 6 dozen biscotti.
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (2 1/4 cups)
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
Special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse peppercorns in grinder until coarsely ground.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper in a large bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs with milk and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quarter dough. Using well-floured hands, form each piece into a slightly flattened 12-inch-long log (about 2 inches wide and 3/4 inch high). Transfer logs to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging logs about 3 inches apart.
Whisk remaining egg and brush some over logs, then sprinkle tops of logs evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper. Bake, rotating sheets 180 degrees and switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until logs are pale golden and firm, about 30 minutes total. Cool logs to warm on sheets on a rack, about 10 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
Carefully transfer 1 warm log to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining logs, transferring slices to sheets. Bake, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 35 to 45 minutes total. Cool biscotti on baking sheets on racks, about 15 minutes.
Do ahead: Biscotti keep in an airtight container at room temperature 2 weeks.
Wow- these look delicious! Even though some of my hordes of guests may scoff at the thought of drinking red wine in the heat of the Australian summer, I’m pretty sure these will be gobbled up! And to ensure the integrity of the recipie – I’ll have a glass of red to fortify me through the cooking process.
Thanks for inspiring me.
Deb, those look awesome. Oh, today someone gave me a Rachael Ray casserole dish for Christmas. Now, I can and can not stand RR but this pot looks awesome. It’s heavy with deep sides and looks like it will be great for small batches of soup and stews. I’m excited to try out my new kitchen equip but I probably won’t open the box until after I move.
I think you need to open a gourmet food shoppe, a la Barefoot Contessa. These look incredible.
I did a post on these several days ago. Yes, these are really excellent!!
Deb – What a terrific blog you have! I confess that I, too (despite my cynical leanings), have become seriously addicted to Smitten Kitchen, checking in with you every morning as I sip my first cup of coffee. Beautiful photos, great prosey style, links to places I’d never have found myself. You’re what makes the internet the greatest damn thing to happen to humanity since the printing press.
Truly lovely, Deb. And very Italian and easy, just the perfect combination. Plus, I can think of 100 different things to add to the basic dough… this would be lovely with chopped confit tomatoes. I´m gonna give them a try soon.
ohh and bravo to that quote by Marian Burros, it´s as if diets and formulas are designed for people who don´t like food, don´t like to cook and can´t tell between something natural and something plastic without any flavor.
Why is Joc in the hospital?
Yes, I’m with you on the variations. I like the idea from Marce of the confit tomatoes above. I’m thinking sesame would be a natural addition.
This is the perfect choice for my husband – he doesn’t like sweets (crazy, I know) and loves cheese. I’ll be making these, that’s for sure!
mmm these look SO good.
Those look great Deb! I love the ka-pow of black pepper :)
Anything that is better with wine is fine by me. Those look great.
I made these last night, and my generally picky boyfriend, Wine Guy, said, “Wow! These smell great! These taste exactly how they are suppposed to taste!,” which, coming from him, is high praise. So, thank you for the recipe :)!
Yum! Those look delicious. My mom makes a similar dish, but with oregano instead of black pepper. They are the perfect companion for a simple soup. I’ll have to try this recipe and see how it compares. thanks!
Biscotti, my favorite snack with my lattes. What a divine recipe. :)
Congratulations on 9rules!
Hey, Deb
Congratulation on getting into 9rules.
You really deserve to get in to the community. I am so jealous. :)
You’re one of my favorite food bloggers.
Merry Christmas.
I saw this in Gourmet and totally wanted to make it! I’m glad it turned out so well for you. They look fantastic!
Mmm, those look delicious.
Excellent recipe, this will go into my cookbook. I’ll be serving these with marinara sauce for Christmas Eve, and I’ll give you the credit you deserve! Merry Christmas!
Okay, I just have to say, that when these come out of the oven still in “breadstick” form, before they’re sliced and made into the lovely biscotti, they are almost dead-on for consistency for those amazing garlic-paremsan biscuits they serve at Red Lobster. I’m going to experiment a bit with different cheese and maybe a bit of garlic, but this recipe is quite multi-purpose!
Yummy, that’s my kind of biscuits, I love savoury bits! allthough I sell mostly sweet specialities. Recipe, posted to me this morning, from a very dear German friend of mine, I’ll be making them……….. TONITE!!
Thank you
P.S. Fab web site, I’ll be back for more
anna
Oh these look deeelish. Going to make them tonight to go with my homemade creamy tomato soup. Great site, love the recipes and fabulous photos.
Most delicious! I am doing them right now and will take them with hummus as a small “Mitbringsel” for the birthday party of a good friend. Thanks for the recipe! I am sure it’s going to be a huge hit this evening.
I made these biscotti yesterday afternoon so my boyfriend and I will have an easy breakfast to grab before running out the door this week. I decided to amp up the flavor a bit and add garlic. They seemed to take longer to cook than the recipe suggested, but perhaps my over is a bit slower. They are delicious and addictive!
I made these today and am sipping some Pinot and nibbling on one of these as I review them here. I love these. You were so right about them being perfect with a glass of wine. The pepper leaves just a nice warmth in the aftermath making them perfect to accompany alone with a good hearty red wine. They were simple (a big biscuit, really), easy to slice and have outstanding flavor and texture. Thanks again..it will be great to have available over the holidays.
these are delish. i made them to accompany the pumpkin black bean soup. my kids really liked them. absolutely wonderful.
Just made these– must say they were a HIT. And, I definitely accidentally put too much Parm (is there such a thing??) but wow were they amazing. My roommates, who generally only eat Lean Cuisine and Light Soup, have eaten so many of these I’m afraid I won’t have any for the week.
Paired with my Nonny’s simple but delish lentil/sausage soup and wow. Yum.
I <3 this blog!
I made these as a pre-dinner nibble when the in-laws came for Easter and they were a hit – my sister-in-law couldn’t believe they weren’t shop bought! I’ll definitely be making them again.
Oooh boy, this looks delicious! I made the classic almond cantucci just a couple of days ago, and am totally in love. (Of course, it also helps that I basically threw together my own recipe despite never having made them before and it worked perfectly – I’m ridiculously proud ;) )
One question remains, though… my almond biscotti are hard as rocks, and in my opinion they should be, as you’re supposed to dunk them. These ones, though… the recipe sounds as if they’d turn out just the same, but I can’t see myself dunking cheese cookies in a nice glass of Chianti! Help, please? Deb, anyone? How are they supposed to be eaten? Or do they turn out completely different? I’d love to make them for our Christmas dinner (my family, including me, is starting to get tired of all those sweet cookies…)!
My house smells heavenly of Parmesan and Pepper!!
I used Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese rather than regular parmesan…Not quite as sharp a flavour. Love the afterburn of the pepper…. Absolutely would not hesitate to dunk into a glass of red wine.
Want to use Whole Wheat flour for my next batch…and perhaps even more cheese in the dough. I nearly doubled the amount of cheese called for in the recipe….but I’m a cheese freak, so more and different flavours would be fun to play with.
Thanks, Deb, for your great ideas here!
Next on my list is your Big Crumb Coffee Cake. : )
These biscotti are great when served with cocktails or sparkling white or rosé wine, vegetable antipasti or Mediterranean-flavored soups or salad.
Hi Deb!
I;m excited to make these and am planning on serving them for a Thanksgiving appetizer but I was wondering about the rack spacing in the oven…do you rotate the trays between the upper and lower third?
Hi Deb…I know many ask you about freezer or no freezer. I’d like to make these for a cocktail party that is in 2 weeks. Would you recommend baking them and freezing to preserve the freshness or do you think that they will be OK in a sealed container rather than in the freezer. I know that the recipe says they keep for two weeks but I am wondering how much of their freshness they lose. If you – or anyone that has made these – has any thoughts on this I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
I generally recommend the freezer over room temperature for freshness. There’s just less chance for them to “decay”.
Thank you!!
I have been all over the internet looking for something tasty to make as an appetizer for a dinner party I am having soon. These will be perfect! Thank you, I can’t wait to try them.
Hii Deb, I wanted to ask you about the cheese, is it fresh Parmigiano or the one that is already grated you know like kraft or something?
thank you
I usually grate my own; I think it has better flavor. If you can find real grated Parmesan with no other ingredients in it, no reason not to use it instead.
Quibble- These are delicious, but took an additonal HOUR of oven time over what was recommended in the recipe. My oven may be old and slow, but its not that slow and I think the initial cooking time should be closer to 45 minutes, instead of 30. Other than the baking frustration they are wonderful! I am going to spread a little home made pesto on them and bake for about 10 minutes tonight for a “fancy” hors d’oeuvres this evening. Thank you for the recipe.
For months I’ve been following this website – the content is great and the comments from other users are very helpful.
Given the rave reviews of these biscotti I just had to try them for a Christmas Eve party.
They are amazing and such a nice treat with a glass of wine! But the one issue that I have is that they don’t remain dry biscotti (like sweet biscotti) – they get soft even when I store them for a couple of days in an air tight container. I let them cool completely before putting them in. I also tried to dry them out before serving them by putting them in the oven for 10 minutes.
What happened? Or is this the way they are supposed to be?
Tamaraleah — I’m not sure, huh. Mine stayed crisp but I had them in a tin so it was not fully airtight. However, most things soften a bit at room temperature in airtight containers, especially cookies, which these are closest to in formula.
I made these for appetizers for our big Italian Christmas. (We’re not Italian, we do a different cuisine every year). They were terrific! We had homemade Lemoncello and the pepper bite was perfect with it. As it was the red wine. This goes into the permanent file. Thanx!
Hi Deb– Just a heads up, I think that the link regarding Jocelyn’s favorite food is dead… just playing a round of my favorite game– “Surprise Me!” on SmittenKitchen :)
Hi Sarah — Thanks. There are a lot links like that throughout the site because most blogs don’t seem to last that long and eventually get taken down! Their loss! Blogging is fun. ;)
Hi Deb! These look fantastic! I currently do not own a spice/coffee grinder (on my Christmas list!). Can I just use fresh ground pepper?
Yup! Leave some more coarse if you’d like.