How to Make Biscotti!

These are called Cantucci con Mandorle or Cantucci with Almonds

Biscotti means twice baked- Bis= twice or double, and cotti means cooked. These cookies are very popular here in North America. You can find them at most coffee shops. But freshly made, they can't be beat! And while they taste great with coffee, there is something else I wil show you that is even better!

Starring:



Flour: 4 cups
Sugar: 1 and 1/2 cups
Vanilla Extract: 2 TSP
Almond Extract: 1 TSP
6 Eggs
Zest of two Oranges
Baking Powder: 2 TSP
Salt: 1/2 TSP

Preheat oven to 350 F. Toast Almonds for about 9 or 10 minutes.



Set them aside for use later. Turn oven heat down to 300 F.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper.



Grate oranges, being careful not to scrape too hard. We only want the pretty orange stuff, not the pithy white stuff.



Add the eggs to the zest.



Add 2 TSP vanilla extract,



and 1 TSP of almond extract.



In a large bowl measure out 4 cups of flour.



1 and 1/2 cups of sugar



1/2 TSP salt



2TSP baking powder



add the egg mixture slowly, stirring often.



After I had added all the eggs, I realized my hands needed to go in and mix it well!



I also added the almonds little by little.



Next I floured my surface






and divided the dough in two.



I made two large rolls about 2 and 1/2 inches wide, and transferred them carefully to the baking pan.

Then I popped them into the oven for about 45 minutes of baking.



I checked to see if they were firm to the touch and they were, so I took them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes. After baking, the cookie logs have expanded in width.



Place on cutting board and make slices about 1 fingerwidth wide, like this.



If your cookie logs are still warm to the touch, use a kitchen or paper towel. It is easier to cut the logs while they are still warm, before they harden.

Place the cut biscotti back in the pan,



then back in the oven for ten minutes, flip pieces and bake for ten more minutes. They should be done- quite firm to the touch. They do harden up a bit more as they cool.

If you like, you can melt some chocolate in a double boiler- about 3/4 cups of semisweet chocolate chips with 1 TSP vegetable shortening.



Stir and it is ready to be placed in a plastic bag.



Cut the corner of the bag, and have fun putting swirls and fanciful shapes on your biscotti.



Here are my results:



And now Mammas, and gentlemen too, now it is time to put up our feet and tell ourselves what a super job we've done... grab a biscotto and dunk it in some moscato- Vin Santo is fantastic, but we can more easily find moscato here in Nevada.



Ahhh. That is good.