Biscotti!

Tomorrow I'm going to my first ever cookie exchange and decided to bring 3 dozen of biscotti!

The recipe is courtesy of Robyn Webb, but of course I had to tweak it a bit. I added orange zest and dried cranberries in addition to almonds and also increased the amount of sugar.


Picture 1) dry ingredients

Picture 2) once baked biscotti cut on a diagonal and about to be put in the oven for the second time

Picture 3) ready to eat! (if you want to indulge, you can dip them in some melted chocolate)

The basic recipe is below (I multiplied the recipe by 1.5 and it made approximately 40 biscotti)

BISCOTTI( CANTUCCINI)

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon6 ounces whole blanched almonds
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon and stir well to mix. Stir in the almonds.
3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and the vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until a stiff dough is formed.
4. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll each half into a cylinder, just a bit shorter than the baking sheet. Place the dough onto the baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Press down gently with the palm of your hand to flatten the logs.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until they feel firm to the touch. Place on a rack and let cool.
6. Once the logs have cooled, slice each log into diagonally cut pieces about 1/3 inch thick. Arrange the cantuccini cookies on prepared pans, cut side down.. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes until well toasted (Note: mine took more like 25 minutes). Cool completely.