The Barefoot Contessa, as she was known, has been inspiring cooks since the 1970s when Food Network started airing episodes of her cooking show “Ina’s Kitchen.”
The channel now has over 100 shows featuring food, travel, lifestyle, and more.
What Inspired Ina Garten To Create Her Famous Biscotti Recipe?
It all began with a trip to Italy.
Ina spent some time there while filming an episode of her series back in 1974, which led her to fall in love with Italian cuisine.
She then decided to bring it home with her.
Her first book was published in 1975, titled “Barefoot in Paris.”
Her next cookbook came out in 1977, called “Everyday Italian.”
This book became one of America’s bestselling cookbooks ever, selling over five million copies.
Since then, she has written several other books on Italian cuisine, including “Back Home Again in France,” “At Home With Julia Child,” “Ciao Bella!
A Taste of Italy,” and many others.
Her latest book is a collection of family favorites, entitled “A Love Affair with Southern Cooking.”
You can find this book at Barnes & Noble online (and in stores), Amazon, and Walmart.
If you want to learn how to make these biscuits, read our article about Ina Garten 2019s biscotti recipe below.
How Does Ina Garten’s Recipe Differ From Other Biscotti Recipes?
Biscuits have always been popular among Americans because they can be made with almost any type of flour (wheat flours, oatmeal, rye).
Baking powder biscuits were first introduced by an American company called Bissell Brothers, which began selling their product in 1877.
There are two main types of biscuit recipes: straight dough and enriched dough.
Straight dough biscuits contain no extra fat while enriched dough biscuits use about one tablespoon of shortening per cup of flour.
These biscuits tend to spread out more than straight dough biscuits do but they still taste good!
Many people mistakenly believe that biscotti means cookies.
But it actually refers to a kind of hard cracker.
It is also referred to as “Italian wedding cookies” because these cookies resemble traditional Italian wedding cakes.
Biscotti come in many different shapes and sizes.
They are usually square (or rectangular) and baked at very high temperatures so you end up with crispy edges on your biscotti.
If you want them softer inside, bake them longer at lower temperatures.
Here is how you make this delicious biscotti recipe from Ina Garten:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine all dry ingredients together in bowl.
- Add melted butter and mix well until combined.
- Transfer mixture to work surface and knead just enough to form a ball.
- You don’t need much flour.
- Divide into 12 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece into 1/4 inch thick log.
- Place logs onto prepared pan, leaving 2 inches between each one.
- Cut crosswise into slices 1/2 inch thick using pizza cutter.
- Place cut side down on tray and bake for 10 minutes.
- Then turn over and continue to bake another 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before serving.
What Are The Key Ingredients In Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe?
Biscotti (pronounced BISS-koh-tee) is an Italian word meaning two-times baked.
These cookies are made by baking a dough with sugar, eggs, flour, almonds, and spices before cutting it into pieces and then baking them again.
They can be eaten plain or dipped into your favorite liquid to create a great snack.
How Do You Make Ina Garten’s Biscotti?
Biscotti are hard cookies made with eggs, flour, sugar, almonds, and sometimes vanilla.
Baking them at high temperatures gives them their distinctive crackly texture.
To get this crackly texture, it takes two oven bakes.
You start by mixing together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) and then add the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, oil).
After that, you roll out dough into logs, cut it up into pieces, wrap those pieces individually, and bake them again.
There are many different variations on how people cook these biscuits but the most common method involves cutting the dough into 2 1/2 inch long sticks, rolling each stick around an almond half, giving them another coat of egg wash, and placing them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until they turn golden brown.
Let them cool completely before serving them.
These are great because they can be served plain or dipped in something sweet like honey or chocolate.
What Is The Secret To Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe?
Biscotti are delicious cookies made with eggs, sugar, flour, almonds, and sometimes chocolate chips.
They can be dipped into espresso or other drinks like milk, but they are most often served after dinner with dessert wine like port or sherry.
Biscotti are also great dunked in hot beverages because their texture remains crisp even though there is no moisture left from the liquid.
Ina Garten (born Ingrid Nora Gartner) got her start making biscuits while working at a bakery.
She learned how to bake by watching her mother, who was an accomplished cook.
Her grandmother taught her how to knead dough until it became stretchy enough to wrap around the rolling pin before shaping it into round balls called buns.
That knowledge helped her develop recipes for biscuits, which were popularized by Julia Child in her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Garten began creating recipes for her own cookbook, first published in 1974.
By 1980, the first book had sold millions of copies and Garten appeared on television as host of her own daytime talk show.
She later hosted another series called “Cookin’ With Ina Garten” and “Ciao America.”
Today, Ina Garten continues to write books about food, including two new ones released this year.
They include “I Love My Kitchen,” a collection of recipes inspired by family memories, and “My Best Recipes Ever, Volumes 1 & 2: A Collection of Family Favorites.”
On top of writing and baking, Garten opened a café in New York City, where she serves classic dishes like chicken pot pie, baked Alaska, and crepes suzette.
The restaurant closed in 2015 due to health concerns related to Lyme disease.
But don’t worry! You’ll still find lots of her famous biscotti recipes online.
What Makes Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe So Special?
The Barefoot Contessa was a regular on the network until 2002.
Since then, the cookbook author has had other ventures including writing, hosting TV specials, and even making jewelry.
Her most recent book is called “Barefoot Contessa Cooks From My Home To Yours!”
She also has an eponymous website where you can buy her books and recipes.
Who is Ina Garten?
Born in 1944, Ina grew up with five siblings after their parents divorced.
At 13, she left home to pursue acting but soon found herself back at home again working odd jobs.
As a young woman, she got married, had two children, and moved to California.
There, she enrolled at UCLA to study journalism before dropping out to focus on her career as a model and actress.
She appeared in several movies including “A Star Is Born” (1976) and “The World According to Garp” (1982).
Over time, however, her modeling work dried up and she turned to television full-time.
In addition to being a chef, writer, and hostess, she became one of America’s best-known chefs.
She made appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and the Today Show among others.
After a brief stint on the Food Channel, she returned to the Cooking Channel in 2000.
She retired from there in 2014 because of health reasons.
While she still hosts occasional segments on cable channels like Fine Living and The Travel Channel, her greatest legacy may be her cookbooks.
They have sold over 15 million copies worldwide and are considered classics in the field of American cuisine.
What Is Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe Secret Ingredient?
Ina Garten is well-known for her recipes which are simple to prepare yet delicious, like this one for Biscotti.
Her biscotti recipe calls for two eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and some oil (in total).
This is probably the most common biscotti recipe you will find on the internet, but it doesn’t take long until you realize there’s something different about it.
You see, Ina Garten uses an unusual ingredient called pistachio paste instead of just plain pistacios.
Pistachio paste contains no nuts – only ground up pistachios mixed with water, sugar, and spices.
So what does this do for the biscotti recipe?
- It adds flavor and texture without adding calories and fat.
- It also gives the biscotti a nice crunch.
- Pistachio paste is a great substitute for nutella if you want to avoid using hazelnuts!
How Can I Make Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe At Home?
Biscotti are an excellent treat to have around because they are easy to make, store well, and taste delicious.
They also make wonderful gifts! If you like Ina Garten’s Biscotti recipe, check out these other recipes from Food Network chefs.
- Chef Mario Batali’s Pecan Sandies Recipe
- Tori Anderson’s Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cathy Fisher’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Dana Carvey’s Peanut Butter Fudge Pie
- Gail Simmons’ Easy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Lidia Bastianich’s Cabbage Soup With Chorizo And Beans
- Rachael Ray’s Garlic Breaded Chicken Cutlets
- Patricia Wells’ Crispy Fried Egg Sandwich
- Nancy Silverton’s Banana Split Brownie Sundae
- Alison Weir’s Apple Crumble Bars
Ina Garten’s Biscotti Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
¾ cup butter (melted)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit while preparing dough.
Sift flour into bowl.
Add sugar, salt and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda.
Mix dry ingredients together until combined.
Beat eggs on medium speed for 5 minutes.
Reduce speed to low, add melted butter and mix until incorporated.
Slowly pour egg mixture into dry ingredients while mixing on slow speed until just moistened.
Do not overmix.
Transfer dough onto floured surface and press 2 inches apart.
Roll out dough using a rolling pin until it is about ¼ inch thick.
Using a 3 ½ by 9 by ½ inch rectangular cutter, cut biscuits.
Place biscuits on parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely before storing them in airtight containers.
Biscotti are crisp cookies made from flour, eggs, sugar, almonds, and vanilla extract.
They are often served with espresso drinks, but they are also delicious on their own.
A few years ago, we featured an easy homemade version of Ina Garten\u2019s biscotti recipe.
We found it to be very similar to other recipes we had seen before then, so we decided to revisit this classic recipe to see if there were any changes that could help us improve our results.
To learn how you can make these biscuits yourself, scroll down below!
Equipment
- 1 Oven
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tbsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tbsp. salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 yolks eggs
- 3 tbsp. unssalted butter
- 1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Butter two sizable baking trays. While the oven is preheating, put one sheet inside.
- Salt, baking soda, and sugar are all combined in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir well to incorporate.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Add half of the remaining dry ingredient combination. Add the melted butter and combine with electric beaters. After that, gently fold in the remaining dry ingredients to blend them.
- Onto the heated, greased pans, lay the second sheet of dough. The dough should be divided into four equal halves. Form these sections into logs that are about 12 inches long.
- To guarantee a neat cut, score the top into rectangles and then trim off any extra dough. Do not neglect this step or the tops will turn out rough and rubbery when cooked. Sprinkle the tops with the saved flour.
- For about 20 minutes, or until firm but not browned, bake the cookies. Take out of the oven, then let cool on the racks. Continue by using the remaining butter.
- Prepare to slice after the food has cooled. Lay each dough piece on its side on a cutting board after carefully picking it up by its scored ends. Run the other end of the log over the straightedge while holding one end firmly against it with a knife or other straight edge.
- Put the cookies together by slicing each piece in half to create two flat biscotti halves, then lightly dusting with flour. About 15 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide, roll into cylinders. Six strips should be cut from each cylinder; roll the strips between your palms to reshape them.
- To help hold the slices together, multiple times wrap each strip around itself. Place on baking pans covered with parchment paper. Put some more flour on top. Until browned, bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Place on wire racks to totally cool. Serve immediately or keep for up to 7 days in sealed containers.
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My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.