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I follow this recipe to make biscotti and replace 1 egg with 50 gms of butter. So I end up adding 2 eggs and 50 gms of butter.It is always incredibly yummy but I have 2 issues and would be great if I could get some tips or help:

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  1. I never get uniform sized/shaped slices like in the picture on the website. They are very small on the ends and very long in the middle even though I try to make a very uniform looking logs before baking.
  2. Some of the biscotti slices are very crumbly and break when I slice them. I do use a very good serrated knife to slice the log.
Divi
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2 Answers2

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Chill this or any cookie dough once finished mixing and before baking. Make your biscotti dough into perfect rectangle logs right to the edge of your pan, with even height and width right across. Use a ruler if you have to. I suspect you have a higher height in the middle - that dough will need to go somewhere when heated, and that's sideways (creating your longer middle baked width).

Once you have these perfectly formed rectangles of dough, chill in the fridge for an hour at least. This will really help keep it's shape and reduce any uneven spreading during bake. You could also try slightly increasing your first-bake temp 10-15 degrees as this will help quick set the exterior of the biscotti logs. The only other thing I may mention is the recipe - perhaps you can just slightly scale back the baking powder to help reduce the spread of the dough during baking.

Once baked just to set (depends on size), pull from the oven and let cool just slightly. While still warm to the touch, start slicing your cookies to a consistent, even desired width - I really recommend using an electric knife if you have one to make the work a lot easier for yourself. If you don't have one, just work quickly with your best serrated knife. Doing this while still warm will definitely help with reducing breakage and crumbs.

StevenXavier
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    You're right, that's exactly what they end up looking like. I'll try to chill the dough and post my results. – Divi Dec 18 '18 at 23:02
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    The log should look like a 2x4 cut of wood basically, completely even throughout (length x width x height). Then give a solid chill, can even be a few hours. If it's longer than an hour or two, throw some plastic wrap on top. – StevenXavier Dec 19 '18 at 14:52
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The ones in the picture look like they were cooked in a tin with sides (maybe in the bottom of a loaf tin, or maybe a narrow baking tray). They've got a suspiciously straight and symmetrical bit below the domed top. Mine have always been pointier at the ends than that, and I use a baking sheet (AKA cookie sheet). The loaf slumps a little in the first cooking. This affects the shape of the ends as well, leading to variable slices. Yours may slump a little more as the butter melts.

Some crumbling is to be expected but if you're reducing the egg, you're reducing a very effective binding agent. Allowing the loaf to cool before slicing makes it crumble less, which was particularly important when I made a gluten-free batch - after cutting one crumbly slice I left it for a bit longer before doing the rest.

Having clicked through to the recipe on a big screen they certainly show some pictures that weren't cooked in a tin. The ends are fairly squared-off even after baking, but there are probably a couple of slices off each end to be used for testing purposes (in addition to the very end piece) and not shown in the photos.

Chris H
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    There are a lot of recipes online with and without butter and I chose to tweek this one with a bit of both. I'll try to use 3 eggs and see if it makes any difference with some chilling before the firs bake. – Divi Dec 18 '18 at 23:05
  • @Divi, I think the ones I've made have butter, but the ratio of other wet/melty ingredients to dry ingredients also varies – Chris H Dec 19 '18 at 06:53