Because this is the season for baking cookies, I thought I’d share (once again) my recipe for making biscotti. This recipe has been made literally hundreds of times over the years in my former restaurant, Biscotti, and in my home kitchen, so it’s tried and true. It can easily be doubled or tripled and makes tons of cookies – perfect for edible gifts to family, friends and neighbors.

Dry Ingredients

3 cups unbleached white organic flour + 1/4 cup (reserved for dusting on your board) or favorite GF flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

3 large eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

6 oz melted butter (or coconut oil if you prefer)

2 teaspoons extract

Additions
1 cup nuts such as pine nuts or pistachios or walnuts

1/2 cup raisins, cranberries or chocolate chips

Note You can even make this recipe a savory one by cutting back the sugar to about 1/4 cup and adding crushed red pepper or course black pepper or fennel seeds–play around with your favorite ingredients.

Instructions

Sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add the extract

Fold dry into wet ingredients, add nuts or other ingredient and knead into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 4 parts and roll each part into a log that’s approximately 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick (the wider and thicker the log, the larger the individual biscotti. For smaller cookies, make the log smaller) Dust your surface with reserved flour to prevent from sticking (if dough is too sticky, just add a bit more flour)

Place on greased cookie sheet or parchment paper and bake in a pre- heated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until firm and golden.
Remove and let cool for 10-15 minutes. With a sharp knife, cut each log on the diagonal, every 1/2 inch or so to form individual cookies.

It helps a great deal if you have a large chef knife and make each cut in one push. Don’t go back and forth with your knife and “saw” for this will cause the log to break.
Place cookies back on the cookie sheet with cut sides exposed and bake for an additional 10 minutes

photo credit: Serious Eats