Almond Biscotti

Hello friends. It's nice to be back. Instead of going through the ins and outs of why I was gone for so long (backing up my hard drive, planning my future, the days are too short, yadiyadiyah), let's just dive right in and enjoy some biscotti with a cup of tea!
A friend of mine once told me that there's nothing like a homemade biscotti. Until now, I have only had those store bought, cellophane covered ones. Naturally, I thought they were supposed to be dry as a bone, cardboard-like,and supposed to hurt the roof of your mouth when you bite into them. I've got news for you! They aren't supposed to taste like that. Nope, not homemade ones.
Homemade ones have so much flavor and are satisfyingly dense, but not to the point where they will cause you pain. I suggest making a double batch not only because it is time intensive, but because they will disappear way before they are completely cool. Enjoy these with your morning coffee, as a mid-morning snack, as an afternoon snack, a midnight snack, or a light dessert. Be aware, though; if you're not careful, it can quickly become a heavy dessert =).

Almond Biscotti adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Note: I omitted the orange liquer. Mainly because I haven't cooked with any kind of liquer before and I wasn't sure I was ready for such an investment. I just used the juice from the orange where I got my zest instead.

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup whole almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped or sliced almonds
1 large egg white for the wash

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Mix sugar, melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, orange liquer and zest in large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended. Mix in almonds.

2. Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 13 1/2-inch-long, 2 1/2-inch-wide log. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Whisk egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush over top and sides of each dough log.

3. Bake logs until golden brown (logs will spread), about 30 minutes. Cool logs completely on sheet on rack, about 25 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

4. Transfer logs to work surface; discard parchment paper. Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on same baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over; bake until just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

Great American Bake Sale Recipe #1: Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the Great American Bake Sale I had a few weeks ago, I had to make up my mind about what to bake. Now, I tend to be very ambitious and think that I have more time than I really do. I also think that I'm a faster worker than I really am and almost never anticipate that anything will go wrong. Of course, with work occupying most of my time, I have very little time, I am a slow worker, and something goes wrong (or shall I say, something unexpected happens) almost every time I bake. Well, this time was no different. Even something as simple as chocolate chip cookies somehow made my heart drop at least once during the process of production.
I decided to make six different items (if I am counting correctly) for the bake sale. Looking back, I wonder how I pulled it off, but I did. Let the record show, however, I did not go without help. For the sake of time, a few days before the bake sale, I decided to make all the cookie dough. I rolled them into balls, placed them on a cookie sheet, froze them, and then transferred them to a zip lock bag and froze them until I wanted to use them. The night before the bake sale, I simply took them out of the freezer, and baked them without thawing them, which turned out just fine. Before getting to that "just fine" stage, let me mention that I was not the one doing the baking. I was instructing my sig-o, who I thought was attentive and careful, to perform the steps above (take out of the freezer, put on cookie sheet, bake). He looked at the balls, looked at me and said, "Wow, these are fool proof". He spoke too soon. You see, he spaced the dough balls on the cookie sheet just fine, with my approval, and placed the sheet in the oven at the right temperature and time and everything. When he took them out, I told him to transfer the cookies from the sheet to the cooling rack with a spatula. I turned my back and then I heard "Ooops" or was it "Uh-oh". I cringed and slowly turned around. He was in the process of transfering the cookies to the cooling wrack, but some how managed to miss and the cookie went sliding down the rack, in between the wire. Cookie 1, goodbye. After he learned not to do that, the rest of the batch went fine.
If I were to poll 10 people of the five top items that should be in a bake sale, I think undboutedly chocolate chip cookies would be in one of those five, everytime. In other words, a bake sale would not be complete without chocolate chip cookies (I seemed to overlook that it would not be complete without rice crispy treats either, which a customer so kindly pointed out, but seeing that it is not one of my most favorite dessert items, it didn't even cross my mind) so that is the first recipe that I will start out with.

I have made plenty of chocolate chip cookies during my baking days, using numerous recipes, and add-ins, and such, but this recipe trumps them all. It was delicious and soft and chewy, just the way I like it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies adpated from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 2/3 oz.) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbls. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed (7 oz.) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. In a large bowl, beat teh melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in teh egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined, scrpaing down the bowl and beaters as needed.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined.

5. Mix in the chips until incorporated.

6. Working with 2 tbls. of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on a baking sheet, spread about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.

8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.