My Cup of Tea

Biscotti, a traditional Italian cookie whose name means "twice baked" in medieval Latin, is a favorite at my house since Jeff and I both enjoy having the crunchy goodness with a cup of evening tea. This treat originated in the town of Prato where it was made from round almond biscuits. In addition, twice-baked bread (which could be kept for long periods of time) was a staple food of the Roman legions. I'm guessing, however, their version wasn't as tasty as the one I made today. Nowadays, people pay a dollar a cookie for these gems. They are delicious, but they're so easy to make I just can't bring myself to fork over a lot of money. My favorite biscotti recipe is from Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network fame, although I do take some liberties with it.

Holiday Biscotti
Ingredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped
• Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Directions
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
• Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes. (I check mine at 30 minutes, since they are often done before the 40 minute suggested cooking time.)
• Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.
• The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

The first few times I made these exactly as described, but then I decided different kinds of fruits and nuts were in order. Today's batch included chopped cashews in place of the pistachios and chopped dried apricots in place of the cranberries. On other occasions I have left out the nuts altogether and used dried cranberries and blueberries. Dried cherries are also excellent with slivered almonds. In addition, I usually use white chocolate at Christmas and add the colored sprinkles, but the rest of the year I'm partial to dark, semi-sweet chocolate. I don't always dip the biscotti, either. Sometimes I just drizzle the chocolate over the top or spread it across one side to get an even coating. I can't imagine any combination of nuts, fruit, and chocolate would be bad, though. Enjoy!