- I used to love getting this biscotti from Starbucks, but they haven't had it for a while, so let me show you how to make it at home.

(gentle upbeat music) (mixer whirring) (gentle upbeat music) We're going to start with a 1/2 a cup of room temperature butter, two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract, two large eggs, and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While we're waiting for our oven, let's start by mixing the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add the sugar, and keep mixing until it's light and fluffy.

Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.

It really is an important step.

Sure, the mixer does the heavy lifting, but it can't reach every part of the bowl consistently.

Next up are the eggs.

Add them one at a time until they're nicely incorporated.

And last but not least, add the vanilla extract.

Did you know that the role of vanilla in sweet baked goods is similar to the role of salt in savory dishes?

It enhances all the other flavors in the recipe.

Without it, your finished product is going to taste flat and bland.

We're getting ready to add our dry ingredients, and what I have here are cherries and walnuts.

Those are my favorites because that's what reminds me of the Starbucks biscotti flavors.

But you can choose whichever dried fruit or whatever nuts that you prefer.

We've also got a little bit of cinnamon.

We're gonna add a little bit of orange zest, but again, those flavor combinations are totally up to you.

I measured out 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour.

To that, I'm adding a 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and a 1/4 a teaspoon of salt.

Give that a whisk to get everything evenly distributed, and then add the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture in one fell swoop.

Turn the mixer on low if you wanna keep the flour and (laughs) your other dry ingredients in the bowl, and mix until just combined.

Now add your dried cherries.

Give them a little stir before adding the walnuts.

Mix the walnuts in, and then add the orange zest.

This is one of those doughs that can get tough if you mix too long.

So remember, all you need are a few swirls around with the paddle attachment to get everything nicely incorporated.

So here's our biscotti dough.

It's a little bit soft, so we're gonna get ready to roll it.

We're gonna need a lot of flour.

It's gonna be a little messy, but let's do it.

I'm going to put my silicone mat down because it helps this soft dough from sticking.

We're still gonna need a generous amount of flour, but keep in mind that the less flour we have to use to form our biscotti logs, the more tender our finished biscotti will be.

I love biscotti, but I don't love cracking a tooth when I try to take a bite.

Dump the biscotti dough onto a floured surface.

With floured hands and a little sprinkling of flour on top of the dough, bring the dough together.

Divide the dough in 1/2, and form each 1/2 into a log that's approximately 12 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide.

Position the log on the prepared baking sheet and repeat the process with the second 1/2.

The logs will spread a little when baking, which is why I like to put each log on its own baking sheet.

We're going to bake these in our preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Here they are after 25 minutes.

You can see they're browning on the edges but they're not fully baked through.

That is exactly what we want.

Let the biscotti cool for about 10 minutes.

If you leave the biscotti to cool too long after that first bake, the biscotti will be too tough to cut.

If the biscotti are too hot then they will crumble into tiny pieces.

And because I took three years of Latin at Walnut Hills in high school, I know that biscotti means twice baked.

So here they are out of the oven after their first bake.

We're gonna slice 'em up and we're gonna put 'em back in for 10 minutes, and have their second bake.

Using a serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally.

A serrated knife can help you get as clean a cut as possible.

Place the sliced biscotti on the baking sheet.

And, hey, (laughs) if a piece falls off, that's okay.

Just eat the evidence.

Only you and I will know.

Put the baking sheets back in the oven for 10 minutes.

If you're a perfectionist, you could flip the biscotti over halfway through the second baking time.

Here they are out of the oven.

I'm going to let them cool off just long enough so I don't burn my mouth when I take a bite.

(gentle upbeat music) That is so good.

It reminds me of all those long drives I had.

All I need is a Venti Starbucks right now, and I'd be so happy.

(mouse clicks) If you like what you saw, subscribe to the channel, give me a like, and I'll see you next time.

(gentle upbeat music)