Biscotti

By Jen -
Biscotti comes to us from Italy - old Rome, as a matter of fact - and the word originally derives from "Twice Baked" - because that's what you do with biscotti in order to get that dry, hard consistency - you bake it twice. The wonders of biscotti are not only the different types you can make - but also the fact that they tend to last longer. 

Here's my all time favorite recipe - 

White Chocolate with Dried Cranberries Biscotti

½ cup butter (room temperature)
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ouncess white chocolate – melted and cooled
2 ¾ cups flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ orange juice
1 tsp almond extract
3 ouncess white chocolate chopped – or ½ cup of white chocolate chips
¾ cup coarsely chopped toasted almond slivers
¾ cup dried cranberries (apricots or cherries)

Heat oven to 350.  Grease and flour  (or use parchment paper) 2 cookie sheets. When oven has heated - toast the almond slivers (spread on baking sheet, put in oven and set timer for 3 minutes. Check, stir and toast for another three minutes. Keep an eye on them - don't let them burn. Cool on counter).


Beat butter, sugar and eggs on medium. Add melted white chocolate.  Add remaining ingredients, beating until will blended.  It will be a thick cookie dough.  If you have an extra large cookie sheet, you can get away with two on one sheet. If not, divide dough and arrange on each cookie sheet form a log of dough about 2” wide and 1 ½ inches high.  This doesn’t have to be precise and you don’t have to smooth it too much. Use wet fingers for shaping. The dough is going to spread some. 

Bake for about 30 minutes.  Top should be golden brown but I check with a skewer into the center of the log to make sure that it comes out pretty clean (not totally clean but not uncooked).  Take out of oven - turn over down to 325.

 Cool for about 20 minutes. This may seem like a long time - but you want the logs relatively cool before you slice them. The logs need to set and firm up a bit. When logs are cool, move to cutting board.  Using a sharp knife, cut the log into ¾ “ slices and place back on the cookie sheet.
 


When the sheet is full, put back in the oven for about 10 minutes, flip the biscotti over and bake for another 5-10 minutes.  You’ll notice how the cookies are browning depending on your oven.  Take out, cool on rack and put the other log in the oven.


Storing biscotti: Let the cookies completely cool and then simply store in an air tight container at room temperature. They can stay crisp for weeks. 


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