Almond Biscotti

I recently took up the *addiction of cafe and decided that I would drink a cup each day for afternoon tea, or earlier if I was going insane.  But I needed something with a small taste of sweetness to go along with it.  I discovered biscotti right across from the cafe selections at the store, but 3$ for a box of 8-10?  I don't think so....so my search for a good biscotti recipe, following the ingredient contents on a box of Nonni's, led me to try and absolutely loove these I'm going to share with you<3.

Biscotti mean "twice baked" so it will take a bit more time, but the reward is ohh so worth it!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Place the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until they're brown and fragrant.  After I took them out and let them cool, I chopped them coarsely with my coffee grinder.

While the almonds are in the oven, mix all the wet ingredients together:  eggs, vanilla and almond extracts along with the sugar.  I went ahead and added the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, and optional salt.
After the almonds were chopped, I added them and stirred until it was one big piece of dough.

Turn the oven down to 300 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with wax paper.
Separate the dough in half and make each into a log of about 7 in long and 3-4 in wide.  I made mine more square-like so the end pieces wouldn't be so small in the end.  Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes.

On a cutting board, using a bread knife, cut into slices.  I was able to cut 9 slices each loaf.  Place them back on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, turn the slices over, and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch. 

My favorite part The Chocolate Dip:
Place 4-6 ounces of finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water.  I have used Ghirardelli  bittersweet and Nestle semi-sweet and found that bittersweet is my preference.  But it really just depends on taste.  Once the chocolate has started to melt, stir the chocolate until it has completely melted.  Remove from heat. 


Using a tablespoon, dribble the chocolate one tablespoon at a time over each biscotti piece.  Once each biscotti have been dribbled in chocolate, I spread the chocolate out using the tablespoon.  Place on the baking sheet and put in refrigerator for 10 minutes or longer until chocolate has hardened.  After chocolate hardened, I individually cut them in half with a bread knife to have more servings available and to cut calories in half. 

Almond Biscotti

3/4 c whole almonds, skins on or skins off
3 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t pure almond extract
2 spelt flour or all-purpose flour
3/4 c raw sugar or granulated
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t salt optional

For Chocolate Dip

4-6 ounces semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped



Calories using bittersweet chocolate:
Cal. 83g
Carbs 10g
Fat 4g
Prot 3g

Thanks to http://www.joyofbaking.com
http://youtu.be/qR-cfbqkx6M