A little Italian at home - homemade biscotti

There is no better time to have an Italian feast, than at a family gathering. We are not Italian, but we certainly know where to get good Italian food. We ordered some fantastic Nonna Emila's pizza, my mom prepared some salads and antipasti dishes and I was in charge of dessert. I could write a whole blog post on Nonna Emila's in Beaverton but, this post is about the biscotti I made for dessert. 

This recipe rocks! And if I can do it, anyone can do it. I found it on Allrecipes.com - Biscotti Toscani. I followed it step by step. The only difference was, I used cinnamon instead of nutmeg. 

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 (allspice or cinnamon work too) 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted almond pieces (slivered almonds work too)

Steps

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

1. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar (I used my KitchenAid mixer).

2. Next, add the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and orange zest. 

3. Mix in the flour and then the almonds

4. Divide the dough in half. Take each half and roll into logs about 12 inches long. 

          (*one of my logs was longer and skinner because I wanted some smaller pieces of biscotti)

5. Then flatten the logs until they are about 1/2 inch tall. 

6. Place both loaves on a well-greased and floured baking sheet.

7. Bake in oven for 25 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

8. 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.

9. Microwave the chocolate chips until melted and then drizzle over the cooled biscotti. Let stand at room temperature for the chocolate to harden. Voila! 

 

They were a big hit with the family and tasted great! I highly suggest giving this recipe a try, it was fun baking something a little different. 

Bon appétit!   

Guest Post on Portland's Finest Restaurant Blog

I recently had the pleasure of writing a guest post on a great blog called Portland's Finest Restaurants.  It is a great resource for information about food/wine/beer events, restaurant reviews and deals in the local Portland area.

Check out my first post about my dining experience at Oba! in the Pearl District.

Leave a comment here or there and let me know what you think!

Cheers!