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Biscotti are Italian cuisine almond originating in the city of Prato, Tuscany. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, and crunchy. In Italy, they are known as cantucci, biscotti di Prato or biscotti etruschi and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Smaller biscotti may be known as biscottini or cantuccini. In Italian language, the word biscotti (: biscotto) encompasses all types of biscuits or cookies.
Biscotti, in this sense, shares its origin with the English biscuit (from Old French biscuit), which is used for a wide variety of baked goods, biscuits, crackers, and breads, only a few of which are actually baked twice.
In modern Italian, the word biscotto refers to any biscuit or cookie. The biscuit known to English-speakers as biscotti is usually called cantuccio, a word that means 'corner' but in the past meant the crust or heel of a loaf of bread. The words biscottini and cantuccini are diminutives that refer to smaller versions of biscotti or cantucci.
The confusion on the name may have been borne from the fact that on the old sign (still present) of "Biscottificio Antonio Mattei", the leading manufacturer of biscuits of Prato, written just below the name of the shop is "Manufacturers of cantuccini", which at the time was one of the major producers of the biscuits. The sign has remained unchanged, and after such a long time people are accustomed to associate the name cantuccini with the biscuits typical of Sardinia and Sicily.
Biscotti are traditional also in some inland towns in Valencia, where they are called rosegons or rosegós. In Menorca, carquinyols are square shaped and do not include whole almonds. One Catalan Food writing states that the word carquinyoli is derived from the French croquignole, a French word of Germanic origin, but In France, a similar biscuit is known as croquant.
The mixture is composed exclusively of flour, sugar, eggs, , and that are not roasted or skinned. The traditional recipe uses no form of yeast or fat (butter, oil, and milk). The barely wet dough is then cooked twice: once in slab form, and again after cutting in sliced form, with the second baking defining how hard the biscotti are.
Traditionally in Italy, biscotti di Prato are sold together with another sweet speciality of Prato, the bruttiboni. Served after dessert, they are usually combined with orange juice.
Modern biscotti recipes often contain nuts (traditional , , , and are popular choices) or such as anise or cinnamon.
Modern recipes include adding baking powder and spices to the flour. The nuts are then added to allow them to be coated, with the skins being left particularly when using almonds and hazelnuts. Separately, eggs are beaten together and then any wet flavouring (e.g., Almond or liquor), before being added to the dry ingredients. Following twice baking (once in long slab form, secondly in cut sliced form), the biscotti may be dipped in a glaze, such as chocolate.
In Catalonia, carquinyolis are usually served with a small glass of a sweet dessert wine, such as muscat or moscatell.
Biscotti are also used as an ingredient in a variety of traditional dishes. In Catalonia, such dishes include rice with sardines and rabbit with snails. They are also used in sauces with calçots, a type of green onion. In coastal Baix Llobregat, biscotti are used in the sauce for a dish of duck stuffed with turnips.
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