BUONISSIMO.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

Biscotti are the sweet darlings of the coffee and dunking set.

These days, you'll find them in most every upscale coffee shop - and many specialty stores and supermarkets - in an array of flavor choices.

The Italian classic has been baked for centuries. Christopher Columbus and other sailors are said to have stocked the twice-baked cookies on long sea voyages because they didn't spoil (all the moisture had been removed).

Crisp and not overly sweet, biscotti are a terrific snack. Tuscans traditionally dip the cookies in sweet wine - like vin santo, but many prefer espresso or coffee. Some even enjoy them au natural - just like cookies.

The word ``biscotti'' in Italian translates into ``more than one'' (``bis'') ``cooking'' (``cotti'') - or ``twice-baked'' - referring to the way the cookies are made. The dough is first formed into logs and then baked. After cooling a bit, the logs are cut into slices, turned on their sides and then baked again.

``The name 'biscotti' is also a generic term denoting various types of Italian cookies,'' writes Lou Pappas in her cookbook, ``Biscotti.'' ``Italian pasticcerie, or pastry shops, flaunt biscotti like a banner across the exterior of their shops, alerting customers to cookies in all styles.''

When traveling in Italy, you'll find delicious anise-flavored, almond- studded, Tuscan-style biscuits known as cantuccini in bags on most supermarket shelves (like store-bought cookies are sold here), but unlike the biscotti in this country, they are traditionally shorter, many only 2 to 3 inches long.

Pappas notes that the ``the quintessential biscotti are said to be the Biscotti di Prato ... crispy, dry almond biscuits named for the city of Prato, located about 15 kilometers from Florence. Twice-baked and almond-strewn, they were a 14th-century creation of Datini, a gourmet of the era.''

Many countries and nationalities have similar cousins, including Jewish mandelbrot, German zwieback, Dutch rusk and Greek paxemadia.

In the last couple of decades, numerous companies have capitalized on the biscotti craze and are now marketing both domestically baked and imported styles in this country in an ever-increasing variety of flavors, enhancing them with all kinds of nuts, liqueurs, flavorings, dried fruits, peels, chocolate pieces and toffee-almond candy. Some are dipped in chocolate, others frosted with flavored icings.

A few of the latest newcomers include Original Ice Blended Biscotti, Ultimate Ice Blended Biscotti, Lemon Biscotti and Chai Biscotti, all featured at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores, where you can pick them up for $1 each.

Some biscotti are hard and crunchy - like the traditional ones popular Italy - while others are softer (semi-soft) and have been developed to appeal to American tastes.

The crunchiest, hardest biscotti are made without butter or any fat in the dough, points out Sonia Azar, director of development and research at La Tempesta, a South San Francisco-based biscotti producer.

When biscotti contain butter or fat, figure that the cookies will be softer, says Azar. So read package labels or recipe ingredient lists carefully and buy or bake accordingly.

La Tempesta, which we think makes some of the best crunchy, traditional biscotti around, offers seven flavor combinations in its Tradizionali line. Now, the company, which began losing shelf space to softer varieties a few years back, also produces a softer, butter-added biscotti - packaged under the ``Americano'' label, notes Azar. Americano biscotti are offered in Vanilla Almond, Vanilla Almond Dipped in Chocolate, Lemon Poppyseed, Chocolate Macadamia Chunk and Butterscotch Chunk flavors.

Recently, the company added Chocolate Toffee Almond Biscotti (which is to die for) and Biscotti Caramel Clusters coated with either dark or milk chocolate - made with broken biscotti pieces - to its product line.

But the traditional-style biscotti are twice as popular with consumers as the company's softer varieties, even though they are not as cakey as some soft biscotti available.

If you want to try your hand at making biscotti at home, peruse today's recipe collection and improvise to suit your fancy.

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE ALMOND BISCOTTI

This is a copycat version (by the Daily News food department) of one of La Tempesta's newest variations - and they are delicious with English toffee bits in the biscotti and sprinkled atop the chocolate coating. Although La Tempesta coats the biscotti all over with chocolate, we opted to cover just one side for convenience and speed, but suit yourself.

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Dash salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda 

3/4 cup blanched slivered almonds

1 1/2 to 2 cups English toffee bits

9 ounces (1 1/2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

In medium bowl of electric mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy. Beat in flour and baking soda until well mixed. Dough will be sticky. By hand, stir in almonds and 3/4 cup toffee bits until well mixed.

Divide dough in half. On a greased foil-lined cookie sheet, shape each dough half into a log 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. (Logs should be spaced 3 inches apart to allow for spreading during baking). Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Watch carefully. Remove pan from oven and allow logs to cool 5 to 6 minutes.

Using a very sharp knife, cut logs diagonally into 1/2- to 5/8-inch thick slices. Cool 5 minutes more. Arrange slices, cut side down, on a foil-lined cookie sheet (you don't have to leave space between slices.) Return to 350-degree oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until well toasted and very golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on pan. Carefully remove from foil.

When cool, melt chocolate with oil in glass bowl or cup in microwave oven on high power 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth when stirred. Using a dinner knife, spread some of chocolate over one cut side of slices and immediately dip chocolate coated side in remaining 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups toffee bits (or sprinkle with bits). Place coated side up on foil-lined cookie sheet and allow chocolate to set. When set, store biscotti between waxed paper sheets in an airtight plastic container. Makes about 36 or more biscotti.

LEMON-PISTACHIO BISCOTTI

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups unsalted pistachio nuts (6 ounces)

Lemon Icing

Line an extra-large cookie sheet or 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in lemon peel and as much of flour as you can with mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour and nuts.

On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 3 equal portions. Shape each portion into an 8-inch-long loaf. Flatten loaves to about 2 1/2 inches wide. Place at least 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet(s).

Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and tops are cracked. (Loaves will spread slightly.) Cool on cookie sheet 30 minutes.

Transfer loaves to a cutting board. Cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2- inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on same parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake 8 to 10 minutes more or until dry and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack; cool. Dip ends into or drizzle with Lemon Icing. Makes 36.

LEMON ICING: In a small mixing bowl, stir together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel. Stir in enough milk OR lemon juice (1 to 2 tablespoons) to make icing of drizzling consistency.

From ``Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Cookies.''

ALMOND BISCOTTI

This biscotti has a porous, hard, crunchy texture.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur OR 2 tablespoons rum with 1 teaspoon almond extract 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon anise extract (optional)

1 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or a fork. Set aside.

Whisk eggs, amaretto, vanilla and anise extract in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in flour mixture and then almonds. Dough will be thick and sticky. Scrape dough into a long log shape lengthwise on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased and floured. Flour your hands and shape dough into a long flat loaf about 10 inches long and 5 inches wide.

Bake on middle rack in a preheated 300-degree oven until firm and dry, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes. Transfer loaf carefully to a cutting board. Using a long serrated knife, cut loaf on diagonal into slices 1/2-inch wide. Lay slices, cut side down, on cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes; turn each cookie over and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, or until cookies are golden brown. Place cookie sheet on a rack to cool. Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be stored, airtight, for several weeks. Makes about 20 biscotti.

From ``Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies,'' Warner Books.

ORANGE-CHOCOLATE CHIP BISCOTTI

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

Grated peel of 2/3 medium orange

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork.

Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, orange extract and peel in a medium mixing bowl until well blended. Mix in orange juice. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Batter will be thick and sticky. Scrape batter onto baking sheet lined with parchment or foil, dividing evenly into 2 long skinny loaves, about 14 inches long and 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide. Loaves should be at least 2 1/2 inches apart. Even up the edges of each loaf with a spatula.

Bake on middle rack in a preheated 300-degree oven 35 minutes or until firm but springy when pressed with your fingers. Let cool 10 minutes on pan. Leave oven turned on. Use both hands to remove each loaf carefully from paper to a cutting board.

Using a sharp serrated knife, slice loaves on diagonal into 1/2-inch slices. Lay biscotti, cut side down, on baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake 12 to 15 minutes more, or until golden brown. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool. Cool biscotti completely before stacking or storing. The flavor develops and the biscotti become more tender after 2 or 3 days stored in an airtight container. May be stored, airtight, at room temperature for several weeks. Makes about 45 small biscotti.

CHOCOLATE CHIP BISCOTTI: Reduce the amount of sugar to 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons and add an equal quantity of brown sugar. Omit orange extract, orange peel and orange juice. Reduce quantity of chocolate chips to 2/3 cup and add 1/2 chopped walnuts.

From ``Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies,'' Warner Books.

CORNMEAL AND FRUIT BISCOTTI

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1 cup raisins OR dried cherries, cranberries OR blueberries OR chopped dried apricots

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and mix together thoroughly with a whisk or fork. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon peel and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture, stirring until all ingredients are moistened. Add raisins, mixing with your hands if necessary. Shape dough into a 12x2-inch log and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in middle of a preheated 350-degree oven 35 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned and cracked on top. Cool 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer loaf carefully to a cutting board. Using a long serrated knife, cut loaf on diagonal into slices about 3/8-inch wide. Lay slices, cut side down, on cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until cookies are barely beginning to brown at edges. Set pan on a rack. Cool cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be stored, airtight, for at least 2 weeks. Makes about 30 biscotti.

From ``Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies, '' Warner Books.

INSTANT BISCOTTI

Rosemary Manell, Julia Child's longtime associate, designed this method of baking what I call ``instant biscotti'' because the cookie dough is simply pressed into the pan, cut, and left in the pan for its second baking. The results are a flat, hard cookie which, like the traditional almond biscotti, is hard and keeps for a long time in cookie tins.

f=C Helvetica Condensed w=9 l=113/4 pound walnuts

1/4 pound hazelnuts, toasted at 350 degrees 6 to 8 minutes

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs, beaten

1/3 cup unflavored vegetable oil (safflower, sunflower OR corn)

Coarsely chop nuts and mix together. Sift flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt and baking powder together twice. Blend in nuts.

Remove 2 tablespoons beaten egg for brushing top of biscotti. Add remaining eggs and oil to flour mixture and work together until homogeneous. Add a few tablespoons water if necessary to blend but mixture should be a bit dry and crumbly.

Pat dough into a lightly oiled 10 1/2x15 1/2-inch jelly-roll pan. Working with a wet hand makes this easier. Brush top with reserved egg.

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 30 minutes or until edges begin to color slightly. Leave cookies in pan and make diagonal cuts 1 1/2 inches apart so that cookies are a diamond shape. Return to oven in same pan and bake 30 more minutes. Cool in pan. Makes about 48 pieces.

From ``We Called it Macaroni, An American Heritage of Southern Italian Cooking'' by Nancy Verde Barr, Alfred A. Knopf.

CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI

This chocolate version, coated on the bottom with melted bittersweet chocolate, is reminiscent of a pricey commercial counterpart.

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup chopped slivered blanched almonds

6 ounces bittersweet OR semisweet chocolate, cut up

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Generously grease foil. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in baking soda, cocoa and flour until well blended. Stir in almonds. Batter will be stiff and slightly sticky.

With floured hands, shape dough into 2 flat logs, 12 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide, on cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes; leave oven on. With a sharp knife, carefully cut each log diagonally into 12 to 15 pieces. Let stand 5 minutes, then turn pieces on their sides. Return to oven and bake 10 minutes longer. Let biscotti cool completely.

In a small glass bowl, melt semisweet chocolate with oil in a microwave oven on high power 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred. With a flexible spatula, spread a little chocolate on bottom and partly up one side of each cookie. Place on unfrosted side on wax paper-lined baking pan until dry and set. Biscotti will keep up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Makes 24 to 30.

From ``365 Great Chocolate Desserts,'' by Natalie Haughton, HarperCollins.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK BISCOTTI

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted after measuring

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

6 ounces bittersweet OR semisweet chocolate cut into 1/4-inch pieces

6 ounces milk chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Set a rack at middle level of oven. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; stir well to mix. Stir in sugar and chocolates. In another bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla and using a large rubber spatula stir eggs into flour mixture to form a dough.

On a lightly floured surface, press dough together - it will be sticky. Flour your hands and surface lightly, but do not add any more flour to dough. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log the length of your pan (14 to 18 inches). Place logs on cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan lined with parchment or foil making sure logs are not close to each other or to sides of pan. Press down gently with palm of hand to flatten logs. (Use a dry brush to remove excess flour, if necessary.)

Bake in preheated 325-degree oven about 30 minutes, until logs are well risen and have spread to about double in size. Logs are done when firm when pressed with a fingertip. Cool logs on pan.

Reset racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Using a sharp serrated knife, slice baked logs diagonally about every 1/4- to 1/2-inch. Return biscotti to foil-lined pans, cut side down, and bake up to 20 minutes longer, or until biscotti are dry and crisp.

Store cooled biscotti between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover. Makes 60 biscotti.

From ``Cookies Unlimited,'' by Nick Malgieri, HarperCollins.

BAKING BISCOTTI

Biscotti are fun to make at home - and not difficult once you get the knack. To speed you on your way, baking experts share the following tips for biscotti-baking success in the home kitchen.

If a recipe calls for butter, use it. Don't substitute.

Dough will be soft, loose and somewhat sticky, but don't be alarmed. Don't be tempted to add extra flour or you'll end up with tough, hard, flavorless cookies.

Some experts advise against toasting any of the nuts used in biscotti recipes in advance as they toast sufficiently during the two bakings.

For ease in cleanup, line pans with foil. Some experts recommend parchment paper, but we've found foil works well - and is less expensive.

Use clean, lightly floured hands to shape the dough (which will be sticky) into logs. For ease, shape logs right on lined cookie pans - don't shape and transfer.

Be sure to leave plenty of space between logs for the initial baking as logs will spread. Two logs per cookie sheet seems to be the max.

Make sure the centers of the logs are baked through after the initial baking or they will compress when you slice them - and after the second baking, centers will be hard.

To prevent crumbling, be sure to use a very sharp knife for slicing on the diagonal.

Be forewarned, too-thin slices often end up crumbling and breaking.

To prevent crumbling, be sure to use a very sharp knife for slicing on the diagonal.

Check biscotti carefully during second baking to avoid overbaking or burning.

Store biscotti in airtight containers at room temperature, away from humidity. They will keep for a few weeks, if they last that long.

< GO NUTS (or fruit or chips or candy)

It's easy to vary flavorings in doughs - either plain or chocolate.

Try anise extract or seeds, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, lemon or orange extract or peel, various liqueurs, etc.

Almost any kind of nut works well, including almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamias or pistachios.

Want more embellishment? Try a variety of chips such as semisweet or milk chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, white chocolate, coffee-flavored - or consider using chopped-up pieces of various kinds of chocolates.

Chopped dried-fruit pieces such as cherries, apricots, cranberries, currants, raisins and figs are good additions to the dough, as are candied orange peel or chopped-up toffee pieces.

After baking, you can dip in melted chocolate of your choice or frost with lemon or orange icing. Don't stop there. Sprinkle with coconut, crushed toffee or whatever else you like.

You get the idea - you're only limited by your imagination and combinations of flavors you enjoy.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) BAKING BISCOTTI

Crunchy cookies are sweet darlings of the coffee set

(2 -- color) No caption (Ceramic pot with Biscotti cookies and mug)

(3 -- color) Keep in midn that the thinner the biscotti are sliced, the more room you'll need for the second baking.

(4) Home-baked biscotti, wrapped in tins, pots, baskets or other containers, make a wonderful gift from the kitchen. First, cover with food-safe plastic wrap,then overwrap with cellophane and tie with a bow and flowers.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box: (1) Baking Biscotti (see text)

(2) Go Nuts (or fruit or chips or candy) (see text)