Almond Biscotti

Hi my wonderful followers! Sorry for the long delay in new posting, things have been a bit hectic lately because my friend Dafina came to visit me and then I went to Florence for Easter weekend so I haven't had the time/a camera to update with. Anyways I thought a nice way to get back into things would be with a recipe I've been eyeing for a while, almond biscotti! Biscotti are a type of italian cookie, and the name biscotti derives from the words bis=twice cotto=cooked, thus they are cooked two times! Once in a form of a loaf and then it is sliced and the slices are cooked again until golden with desired crispyness.

On this lovely April day I have to thank Lani for her assistance, without which I may not have made it past the SEVERAL errors I encountered upon the way, including but not limited to; forgetting to add the sugar, forgetting to add the vanilla extract to the recipe we had to double in order to make up for the first error, the flour splashing everywhere as I ran out of bowl space due to the fact that I had to double the recipe anddd not having a baking sheet thus the bottoms of the first batch getting burned. Oh and Lani took photos/lent me her camera so THANKS LANERS!

Anyways, this recipe, if followed correctly will get you delicious biscotti. My errors are completely avoidable, thus just follow the recipe and not my example...although mine still came out pretty delish, all things considered. And I would recommend leaving a lot of space on your baking sheet for the logs because the dough does spread out a good amount.. Here it goes:

Almond Biscotti

They’re supposed to make 3 dozen, but it depends on how large you cut them

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup whole almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped or sliced almonds

1 large egg white

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Mix sugar, melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, orange liquer and zest in large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended. Mix in almonds.

Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 13 1/2-inch-long, 2 1/2-inch-wide log. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Whisk egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush over top and sides of each dough log.

Bake logs until golden brown (logs will spread), about 30 minutes. Cool logs completely on sheet on rack, about 25 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Transfer logs to work surface; discard parchment paper. Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on same baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over; bake until just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

They hold up pretty well for about 10 days, enjoy with your coffee or tea!
And thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe!