The day after Thanksgiving is the day I start doing all of my baking. I begin to load up my freezer with an assortment of cakes and cookie dough that I can bake off at a moment’s notice. If my schedule gets crazy at work, sometimes even that becomes a bit of a chore. This time of the year, I love to bake a huge batch of biscotti and have it on hand for a quick treat or for unexpected guests. For many of you, the Holidays also means a full house of family and friends for a several week stretch and a tin full of assorted biscotti is sure to satisfy everyone when baking time is limited. There are a variety of different biscotti recipes, some made with butter and others made with oil. They are both equally good, and I find that the ones made with oil have a coarser and crispier texture than the ones made with butter. In the end, the recipe you use will depend on personal preference and also what ingredients you may have on hand.
This recipe is for a basic dough to which you can add just about anything you like and make it your own. I love almonds, so I added almonds and almond extract. But, you can also add dried fruit, chocolate chips or other nuts and create your own delicious and unique flavor combination. If you choose to add things like chocolate, you may want to adjust your sugar so that it is not overly sweet. I hope you have an opportunity to try these for the Holidays or for any time of the year.
***An original recipe from www.goodfoodgourmet.com
Almond Biscotti (makes 2 dozen smaller pieces)
8 oz salted butter
16-17 oz granulated sugar
5 oz whole eggs
.8 oz almond extract
.2 oz vanilla extract
23 oz flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
5 oz sliced almonds, lightly roasted and cooled
Non tempering melted chocolate **optional for dipping or drizzling (see our store)
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and cream with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and the extract and combine well. Measure out the dry ingredients and slowly scoop the ingredients into the butter and egg mixture until it is all well incorporated. Last, add the roasted nuts and mix until just combined. You can roll these into 3 smaller logs (approx 20 oz each) or into 2 larger logs for longer biscotti. If you are going to make the larger logs, only put one log of dough on each parchment lined sheet pan, because they will spread. I made 3 smaller logs and they looked like this before baking…
Bake on the center rack of your oven for approximately 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Make sure to rotate your tray around half way so that it cooks evenly. Once they are golden brown like this….
remove from the oven and allow the logs to cool for about 15 minutes. Once cooled, slice the biscotti and stand them upright on your pan and put back into the oven. You do not want to bake these any more you just want to dry them out…so when you put them back into the oven, turn the oven off. Leave them in the oven to dry out as long as possible, or at least for 2 hours. Once completely cool, you can drizzle or dip them into melted chocolate. Non tempering chocolate is perfect, because it will set up at room temperature without refrigeration. Store them in a lidded container and enjoy them for up to 2 weeks…if they last that long!
www.goodfoodgourmet.com
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