AboutElyse Grau Expertise I can answer any questions about baking. The only thing I'm not too good at is baking pies, nor do I know much about high altitude baking.
Experience I have been baking for over 30 years. One of my hobbies is creating recipes, most of those for baked goods. I made my own wedding cake. Currently I prefer to bake healthier things. I use a lot of whole wheat and other whole grain flours, and prefer to use less sugar or sugar substitutes in my baking. I do a lot with fruit.
The only thing, I substituted pecans instead of almonds (I much prefer almonds but I only have pecans.)
The problem was after the first baking of the loaf. After it cooled, I went to cut it into the pieces so it could bake for the second time, and it completely crumbled. :(
I ended up with a lot of little chunks of biscotti rather than neatly cut pieces!
What would cause this?
PS: The biscotti still came out very tasty even if it wasn't quite in the correct shape.
Answer Kayla:
My guess is that it was the pecans. They have more oil than almonds, which would make a more tender or flaky dough. Which with cookies translates to crumbly. There is also the possibility of the wrong type of cocoa. Did you use natural, on non-alkalized? Using Dutch-processed cocoa could change the texture, though I would expect it to be soft rather than crumbly. Just thought I'd throw that out there, anyway.
Elyse
PS. I'm glad you didn't throw the batch out. Biscotti are always wonderful, even in pieces!
