The Gastronomy of Grace: Orange Almond Biscotti...with a side of good company

A year ago, my little Italian wonder (Ariel Alberti) introduced me to the wonderful recipe of Biscotti. We had travelled to Philly for a long weekend with her Aunt Michelle to continue a long tradition of holing up for the weekend, baking a ton, and drinking wine. It was the four of us, but this tradition started long ago when Michelle and her best friend, Anne, were in grad school.

Since funds were limited at that time, they decided to bake desserts for everyone in lieu of presents. Despite both of their incredible successes since then, the desserts have kept coming year after year. So when the snow started and we were stuck with each other all weekend, I was introduced to a wonderful tradition that I hope to keep with a group of gals for years to come.

This is a wonderful recipe for a group of people to try together as it is a little more complicated, but a lot of fun to make. Crack open a bottle of wine, put on some great music, and have a fantastic time. I also have gotten raves from everyone who has tried this particular recipe, and it is super delicious! Good luck!!!

Introducing my favorite....Orange Almond BISCOTTI.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 T orange zest (the zest of 2 medium oranges)

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then spread almonds on sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until fragrant.

3. On medium speed, beat sugar, butter, orange peel and eggs in large electric mixer bowl, or with a hand mixer.

4. Slowly mix in flour, baking powder and salt. Then add the almonds last.

5. Put the dough into a ball and place it on a new cookie sheet (ungreased). Divide dough in half, and shape each half into rectangle, as you see below.

6. Now bake for 20 minutes (make sure toothpick comes out clean). Cool the biscotti for 15 minutes, then cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces, as you see below:

7. You will need 2 cookie sheets to bake the sliced biscotti. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn each piece over, and bake for an additional 5 minutes to get ideal golden color.