I remember Dad bringing these toasted cookies which tasted like cake but were hard, crispy and perfect to dunk in a glass of warm milk. We would call it cake biscuit. These biscuits were baked fresh in a local bakery and Dad used to always bring those in small batches to last a week. It was only after several years did I learn the actual name of those biscuits. Biscotti! A kind of cookie that is twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy and typically almond flavor. When Avyan started on solid food, these crunchy cookies became his favorite evening snack. Especially, the kind of biscotti that I grew up eating as it was more easily available in India. The texture of those cookies is tad bit different than the authentic biscotti. But it was equally cake-like and tasty. It was my evening tea’s best friend and soon it became Avyan’s too.
After we moved back last year, the first thing that we did was take a Costco membership. Quite typical, right? On our first trip to Costco, Avyan grabbed this ginormous jar of almond biscotti and he wouldn’t let go. We couldn’t stop him from opening it at the store. Seeing him enjoy the biscotti so much, I obviously got motivated to bake some chocolate biscotti for him. Of course, it took me only half the year to finally implement the plan! But I did it. Baking biscotti is easy. Like most cookies, you cannot over mix the dough. Otherwise, it will turn hard. Shaping the dough is also quite crucial for uniform even baking. After the first bake, it’s important to let it cool completely before you slice it into oblong-shaped cookies. If you try to slice it while it’s still hot, it will crumble. This happened with me. Once the second bake is done, allow the cookies to cool down completely before you store it.
