These Italian cookies are often served with coffee or wine. They typically consist of flour, eggs, sugar, almonds, and pine nuts. The name biscotti is derived from the Latin word biscoctus, which means twice cooked. They can be traced back to Roman times, when biscotti were the most convenient food for travelers and soldiers of the Roman army.
The double baking process results in a stiff texture and a very long shelf life, so much so that military commander Pliny the Elder even boasted that the process would make biscotti edible for centuries. During the Renaissance, biscotti gained popularity in Tuscany, where they were often paired with local wines.