Make Effortless Biscotti With The Help Of Boxed Cake Mix

Italian biscotti is no walk in the park to make from scratch. In order to have it sitting elegantly on a platter, alongside a cup of coffee, you would have had to spend the better part of the day in the kitchen. There, it's a non-stop process of kneading the dough, slicing it into smaller pieces, and baking them — not once, but twice — to get that shattering crunch and golden-brown perfection. Getting the steps right is only half the journey; making the absolute best biscotti also comes down to proper ingredient preparation. Fortunately, there's a way to breeze over that part, and all it requires is a boxed cake mix.

Typical biscotti often starts with a well-measured base of flour, sugar, baking powder, and other dry ingredients — all of which already come in a box of cake mix. Instead of rummaging through the pantry, tediously finding and measuring every single thing, you can simply pop open the box for an effortless shortcut. It seems like such an insignificant thing, but it's quite helpful in the long run. All that time and energy normally spent on preparing the ingredients and ensuring ratio accuracy, you can now use to focus on other steps in the process. Before you know it, the dough has entered the oven, and the only thing left to do is wait.

One regular-sized box of cake mix (roughly 13 to 16 ounces) should be enough for a batch of over three dozen biscotti pieces. With almost everything already gathered in one place, you just need to add extra all-purpose flour and a few other baking essentials to complete the batter. The flour further stabilizes the dough, making it dense enough to achieve that signature biscotti sturdiness. And of course, eggs bind everything together while butter imparts a rich undertone.

Other than the basics, customizations such as dried fruits, chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and chopped nuts are always welcome to join the mix. It all depends on personal preference, but extracts (vanilla, almond, etc.) or syrup can also be great for a more pronounced sweetness. Considering trying Duff Goldman's first step for improving boxed cake mix, simply by adding pinches of warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to spruce up the flavor base.

The playground for creativity extends all the way to the boxed cake mix's flavors. Yellow is a versatile comfort zone for any direction you want to take, whether it's a familiar vanilla taste or a birthday edition with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate. Undoubtedly, chocolate and red velvet, by extension, never disappoint. You can even add melted dark or white chocolate to further enrich the bittersweet tone, or pull a peppermint twist when the holiday rolls around. And if sweetness doesn't cut it anymore, a lemon cake mix works splendidly. A few grates of citrus peel, plus a creamy, zesty glaze, and you've got an elegant, zingy batch of biscotti.