Biscotti Toscani (Baking Marathon Pt. 1)

Food equals love. That's my cooking philosophy.

I go into crazy mode when I'm baking for people I love. I get picky about baking every dessert from scratch. I become obsessive about giving something that I consider perfected and mastered. I eat the burnt cookies and give the golden ones away. I brush off excess crumbs before packaging. I cut the ends of the ribbon. I send them off with kisses.

Today I visited some of my sweetest and dearest at Oxford College. So understandably, I was up by 7:30 AM... and baking nonstop from 8:30 AM to noon.

I made banana bread (get the recipe here), biscotti toscani, and cappuccino cookies. It was a busy morning. I loved it.

Behold...the working space. I find it helpful to lay out extra paper towels before getting started. Makes things super easy, and cleanup is a breeze.

 I like to shape my biscotti logs in a way that the top is flattened. In my experience, I found that flatter logs cook more evenly and give the finished biscotti the perfect height. Not too tall, not too flat.

I made two types of biscotti- white chocolate and macadamia nuts, and cocoa with chocolate chip cookies. To make the chocolate version, substitute 1/4 cup flour with cocoa powder.

Make sure to use serrated knife to cut the baked log into strips. Use back-and-forth sawing motion.

Toasting the biscotti :) Take care that they don't toast too much, now. White chocolate turned burnt brown doesn't look too appetizing.

Biscotti Toscani

*makes about 2 dozen biscotti*


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted almond pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a large baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, almond extract, and zest. Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in almonds. Divide dough into two pieces. Form into long flat loaves about 1/2 inch tall and 12 inches long. Place the loaves 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
4. With a serrated knife, cut diagonally into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, turning over once. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
5. Place chocolate chips into a small, microwave-safe bowl. Melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 20 to 30 seconds until smooth. Use a spatula to spread chocolate onto one side of each cookie. Let stand at room temperature until set. Store biscotti at room temperature in an airtight container. 

Source: Allrecipes