Biscotti Recipe

I love this recipe - it's so easy, and so satisfying. You need a food processor - not a mixer. You can probably experiment with a stand-alone mixer, but these instructions are for a food processor. And by biscotti, I mean of course, the hard tack biscuits made with almonds, flour, sugar, and eggs that you bake twice to make hard and dry - and then soften again by dipping in red wine or coffee. Biscotti is just the italian word for biscuit, and they have just as many varieties as we do. The Italian Baker says that this particular type is particularly associated with Tuscany...

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup almonds
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus a little extra for dusting)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
There are three stages to this recipe:
1) Toast almonds.
2) Prepare and bake biscotti.
3) Cut and bake biscotti a second time.

1) Toast almonds
Toast the almonds in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. You'll know when they are toasted because the house smells fabulous. I toast several batches of almonds at a time and then just store the unused ones in a jar in the pantry.

2) Prepare and bake biscotti.
Set oven at 300 degrees.
Using your food processor, roughly chop the almonds. Do this is a few batches so the nuts aren't too small. Set aside.
Sift together (or combine and stir together) all of the dry ingredients.
Mix 3 eggs and the vanilla extract in the processor.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Pulse between additions, and scrape down the sides as necessary.
Add the nuts in about three batches, pulsing after each addition. This dough is very sticky, and doesn't adhere together, so don't fret yet and don't blend for too long.
Flour the surface of a smooth counter and dump out the contents of the processor onto the floured counter. Divide your dough into three, and roll/pat the dough into three logs of about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 wide. Bake for about 45 minutes. You'll smell the fragrance. They should be a little soft when you remove them from the oven.

3)Cut and bake a second time.
Let the logs cool for 2 or 3 minutes, then slice the logs on the diagonal, about 1/2 inch wide "cookies", and reserve the tiny end pieces (just for checking how things are coming along). Take the freshly cut biscotti, place them on your baking tray, and put back in the oven for another 40 or 50 minutes. This point is up to you. When I underbake then, my mother raves; overbake and my husband raves. The point is that they are hard and dry. They keep best that way. But if your teeth protest, they don't have to be so hard...

They store well - mine go in a cookie jar with a piece of paper towel in the bottom. Length of time is not an issue for me. It's only 30 or so cookies. These are not harmless indulgences, but they are fairly tame if you only eat two or three per day and don't bake them very often. Take them as hostess gifts, eat them one per day, whatever. I recommend eating them with wine, although I'm not a dipper myself.