BISCOTTI SO TASTY YOU might possibly EVEN ENJOY THEM WITH DECAF (gag)

I promise I'm not going to sing, or tell some ridiculous story about my childhood, or imagine that famous television mothers are sharing a cup of morning coffee with me, and I definitely won't divulge any dirty, embarrassing secrets.

I'm just going to post these recipes because they are SO DELICIOUS! And thanks to the very talented Lis of La Mia Cucina for providing the motivation to get everybody baking biscotti. I still haven't forgotten about Auntie Ann's pizza ('cept I'm gonna grill em).

CHOCOLATE ALMOND BISCOTTI (from Heaven to your mouth)
just barely modified from a recipe on Epicurious

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 TBS UNsalted butter--room temperature (reduce salt by half if using salted butter)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs-room temperature
1 cup roasted, unsalted almonds, sliced or chopped fine
3/4 cups semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or butter and flour).

Whish flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamed and very fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Slowly stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Stir in almonds and chopped chocolate.

Divide dough in half. Form each half into a log about 2 inches wide and lay on prepared sheet. Remold if necessary on sheet and flatten the logs slightly. Bake for 35 minutes or until outside feels firm. Remove sheet from oven but leave oven on. Let logs cool on sheet for 15 minutes.

Transfer biscotti to a cutting board. Using serrated knife, gently slice logs diagonally into roughly 1/2 inch slices. If crumbling is a problematic, use serrated knife to "saw" just through outer crust and then use a very sharp (non-serrated) knife to slice through--using a motion straight from the top down. Arrange cut biscotti on their side on baking sheet and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until crisp. Once cool, you may optionally dip half of each biscotti into melted dark or white chocolate.

**I intend to try these again made with just a pinch of cinnamon mixed into the dry ingredients and the grated zest of an orange mixed in with the nuts.



BISCOTTI WITH CRANBERRY, GINGER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE
This recipe was also taken from Epicurious and modified slightly. These are not as amazing as the chocolate version, but great for those wanting biscotti that is a little less sweet.



2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried cranberries
1+ TBS chopped candied (crystallized) ginger
3/4 cups white chocolate chips

Additional 9 oz white chocolate chips to coat finished biscotti


Preheat oven to 350°F. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, eggs and almond extract in large bowl until well blended. Mix in flour mixture, then dried cranberries, ginger and white chocolate. Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each piece into 2 1/2-inch-wide, 9-inch-long, 1-inch-high log. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.

Bake logs until golden brown (logs will spread), about 35 minutes. Cool completely on sheet on rack. Maintain oven temperature. Transfer logs to work surface. Discard parchment. Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange slices cut side down, on same sheet. Bake 10 minutes; turn biscotti over. Bake until just beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Transfer biscotti to rack.

Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water until smooth over very low heat. Remove from over water. Using fork, drizzle chocolate over biscotti. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Freeze in airtight container. Thaw at room temperature.)