Biscotti: Our Christmas Treat

Don’t you just love those special Christmas treats people make every year to give to family, friends, and neighbors?  We certainly do! Two of our favorites are my mom's toffee and Daniel's parents' homemade Baileys….YUM!  This year we decided that we needed to put our mark on the holiday tradition.  You just can’t receive these tasty morsels year after year without returning the favor!  So, with our deep love of coffee in mind and the overwhelming amount of sweets overtaking counter space everywhere, we knew that biscotti was in order.

I went searching for just the right blend of deliciousness, and found this phenomenal recipe from The Joy of Baking.  We hope you enjoy it as much as our family and friends did!

Almond Biscotti

• 1 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all purpose flower
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and toast the almonds for 10 minutes.  After allowing them to cool, chop coarsely.  Reserve approximately 1/4 cup of the almonds to sprinkle on the biscotti once they are dipped in chocolate.


Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.


Beat the eggs and extracts.  In a separate bowl (I use our electric mixer), mix the flower, sugar, baking powder and salt.  While mixing, slowly add the egg/extract mixture.  When you've added about 1/2 of the egg/extract mixture, also begin adding the almonds.  The mixture will appear very dry and may need to be kneaded briefly once removed from the mixer.


Roll the dough into a log that is the length of a cookie sheet and about 5-6 inches wide (about 1 inch tall - it will rise to about 1.5 inches).  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until firm to the touch.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.


Cut the log on a slight diagonal in 1 inch wide pieces.  Return the slices to the cookie sheet and lay them on their side.  Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Allow the biscotti to fully cool before dipping in chocolate.


Melt the chocolate.  We melt the chocolate without burning it by boiling about 1 inch of water in a saucepan and then placing a pyrex bowl with the chocolate on top of the water (we keep the saucepan on low throughout the process).  The heat from the simmering water will keep the chocolate melted without burning it.


Dip the biscotti in chocolate and before the chocolate cools, sprinkle with almonds.  

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Happy New Year!