Tra Vigne's Biscotti

Hello summer bakers! Has the boredom of summer started to catch up with anyone? It sure has with me. Which is probably the reason I found myself pulling out the flour and mixer at 10:45pm last night to make this famous italian cookie, i biscotti!

Yours in summer baking, Kate

Ingredients (makes about 40 cookies)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon gray salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup crystal sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs
6 tablespoons aniseeds (or 1 teaspoon anise flavoring)
1 cup unblanched whole almonds, toasted
*I recommend chopping the almonds in half or quarter sizes
*Optional: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

To Do

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the butter, crystal sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, flour mixture, and aniseeds and beat on low until the dough begins to come together.
4. Add almonds (and/or chocolate chips) and mix just until distributed. DO NOT OVERWORK!

5. On a floured board shape the dough into a ball, flatten, put in a bowl for 2hrs to allow the dough to relax.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees; line a backing sheet with parchment paper.
7. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions on a lightly floured work surface.
8. Using your hands, roll each portion into a log about 3 inches in diameter.
9. Roll the logs in crystal sugar to coat well.

10. Place the logs on the prepared baking sheet and press down gently to flatten slightly. Logs should be several inches apart.
11. Bake until firm and light brown, about an hour. When poked with a finger, the dough should feel firm to the touch and not collapse or cave in. Remove from oven then lower oven temperature to 300 degrees.
12. Let the logs cool completely. Carefully move them, still on parchment paper, to a cutting board, then peel off the parchment paper.
13. Cut the logs with a sharp serated knife into 1/2 inch thick slices.
14. Lay the slices down on a baking sheet and return to the oven.
15. Bake until toasted to a golden brown on both sides, about 5-6 minutes (about 3 minutes on each side).
16. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

Notes on the Recipe: This is not an "aw we can skip that chilling the dough thing", with biscotti it is very important that the dough gets cold. So if you dont have a good amount of time or arent a leisurely baker, maybe try a different cookie. Also, we like more 2-bite sized biscotti, so we tend to cut smaller pieces. When we ignore the cooling process and cut pretty soon after the biscotti come out of the oven. This aids in the cutting of the dough; use the serated knife semi-slowly as not to tear the dough.

Thoughts on Edibility: As this is a family recipe, my thoughts are its delicious! We send these biscotti to my Papa every year for Father's Day and he says they taste just like from home...northern Italy! Also, the brilliance of biscotti is they are a customizable cookie! Add the almonds, chocolate chips, no almonds, dried fruit, whatever you desire to create your own biscotti!