biscotti

i love biscotti. usually i really enjoy baking sweets but don't often eat a lot of them...i like to give them away. but biscotti to me are nice and toasty and go well with coffee or hot chocolate. and, they're not too sweet. so i don't always give them away. :) they can also have a great variety of ingredients like the following:

white chocolate chips

macademia nuts

 

almonds

--> feasting fact: BISCOTTI

the name sounds like biscuit...and it is like a biscuit, although think of the Britishy hard style biscuits in this case. they are "twice-baked" cookies although i like to cook them...thrice. haha. basically you cook the whole slab of dough once as a cookie, and then you cook the sides to make the cookie harder and crunchier. i just like to make things even so i cook them on each side for a shorter period of time. the longer you cook, the crunchier the biscotto. (biscotto is singular; biscotti is plural)

white chocolate macademia biscotti

1 cup butter

1.5 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

4 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup almond slivers or slices

preheat oven to 325 degrees. spray two pans with nonstick cooking spray.

in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. beat in eggs, vanilla and amaretto.

separately, stir flour, baking powder and salt. add to larger bowl.

add the "toppings": nuts, chocolate chips, and almonds.

divide dough in half. roll each into a log and set in the middle of the pan. (see below for size)

  

bake 20 minutes until light brown. let cool for and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. (see below) let cool for a few minutes, then arrange slices on their sides and cook for 6 minutes. then flip each piece to its other side and cook for 6 more minutes. the cookie should be light golden brown.

here is how i sliced the bread after it's first jump out of the oven. see how it's slightly diagonal? simple enough.

  

--> feasting fact: mix and match!

you can make this recipe your own by adding different combinations of ingredients. pick two or three of the following, then follow the basic recipe above!

almond slivers or slices (1 cup)

butterscotch chips (1 cup)

cherries, dried (1 cup)

chocolate chips (1 cup)

cinnamon, ground (2 tsp)

cocoa powder, unsweetened (1/2 cup)

cranberries, dried (1 cup)

hazelnuts, chopped (1 cup)

macademia nuts, chopped (1 cup)

orange (1 tbsp orange zest + 2 tbsp orange liqueur or orange juice)

pine nuts (2/3 cup)

walnuts, chopped (1 cup)

white chocolate chips (1 cup)

you can also melt some chocolate and either drizzle it over the cookies or dip the end of the cookie into it. let cool and enjoy! this recipe makes about 30 biscotti cookies.

*this recipe is modified from one of my favorite sites yet again!