Double Anise Almond Biscotti

These Italian biscotti lean into the licorice-warm flavor of anise with both extract and ground star anise in the dough, giving the cookies the deep, savory-sweet aroma you find in old-school Italian bakeries. Slivered almonds toast in the second bake, adding crunch and a buttery depth that plays beautifully against the herbal anise notes.

The twice-baked technique is what makes biscotti shelf-stable for weeks. The dough gets shaped into logs and baked first, cooled, sliced, then toasted a second time to dry out the cookies completely. The result is a hard, crisp cookie purpose-built for dunking in coffee, espresso, or sweet vin santo.

Kitchen Tips

• Chill the dough before shaping. Cold dough holds its log shape during the bake instead of spreading into a flat sheet that gives crumbly, fragile biscotti.
• Let the first-bake logs cool fully before slicing. Hot logs tear and crumble under a knife, while cooled logs slice cleanly into uniform pieces.
• Use a serrated knife with a gentle sawing motion. Pressing straight down on a biscotti log shatters the cookies along the edges.
• Stand the slices upright on the second bake if possible. This allows even drying on both sides and gives you that signature dry, snappy texture.

Variations

• Swap almonds for pistachios, hazelnuts, or pine nuts for a different nut profile in the dough.
• Add the zest of an orange or lemon to the dough for a bright citrus lift alongside the anise.
• Dip one end of each cooled biscotti in melted dark chocolate for a more decadent finish.