Making Your Own Biscotti and Dunking Delights

Thanks to biscotti, dunking has become socially acceptable. These long, dry, semihard cookies with curved tops and flat bottoms are especially designed for dunking. Their unique texture and taste are perfect for absorbing coffee, tea, punch, wine, or soup.

Biscotti date all the way back to Columbus's time when an Italian baker served them with Tuscan wines. From there the idea spread throughout Italy and nearby countries, and eventually each province became known for a particular flavor of biscotti. Traditionally, biscotti (which means "twice-baked") are almond-flavored, but now they may be chock-full of different nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, or trail mix. Their tops or sides may be plain; dusted with sugar and cinnamon; frosted with chocolate, white, or lemon icing; or decorated with sprinkles, baci, or ground or sliced nuts.

Biscotti for desserts are sweet, but spicy ones are for polite dunking in soups, appetizer dips, or fondues. They are lean, light, and adaptable to our healthy-eating lifestyles. Their grain base and raisins, nuts, and other ingredients provide energy and nutrition.

Making Your Own Biscotti and Dunking Delights has more than fifty, recipes for making delicious, different-flavored biscotti at home. It explains how to make the dough with a spoon, food processor, food mixer, or bread machine. You'll discover easy-to-make toppings and frostings, along with wonderful dipping recipes for appetizers, soups, coffees, ice creams, and more.

Dona Z. Meilach is the author of several cookbooks, including The Best Bagels Are Made at Home, Marinades Make Ordinary Foods Extraordinary, The Best 50 Homemade Liqueurs, and twenty-five craft books. She lives with her husband, Mel, in Carlsbad, California.