Golden biscotti

3 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour (10 oz. or 290 grams)
¼ teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon Baking powder (5 grams)
¼ teaspoon Salt
⅔ cup Sugar (4.75 oz. or 132 grams)
2 Scant tabs. orange zest, finely chopped (see note)
2 larges Eggs (3 fluid oz, or 3.5 oz weighed without shell)
¼ cup Flavorless vegetable oil
1½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Pure almond extract
1⅔ cup Unblanched sliced almonds
⅓ cup Unblanched whole almonds
Topping
2 tablespoons Sugar (1 oz. or 25 grams)
⅛ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 large Egg white (2 tabs. or 2 oz. weighed)

Directions

Note: Remove zest from orange in lengthwise strips with vegetable peeler, and chop finely. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD In medium bowl, sift together all but ¼ cup of the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to mix well.

In food processor with metal blade, process sugar and orange zest until zest is finely minced. Add eggs and process about 30 seconds or until thoroughly blended. Scrape sides of bowl. With motor on, add oil and extracts and process until blended. Add sliced almonds and process until finely chopped. Add flour mixture and process about 7 seconds or until flour is almost incorporated. (There will be some flour clinging to sides of work bowl. Do not overprocess as the dough will be too stiff to incorporate the flour completely in the processor.) ELECTRIC MIXER METHOD Finely grate orange zest. Finely chop sliced almonds. Place them both in medium bowl. Sift together all but ¼ cup of the flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to nuts and zest. Whisk together to mix well. In large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs for several minutes, until very thick and pale in color. With mixer at medium speed, beat in oil and extracts. At low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture. ~ For both methods: Scrape dough (including any flour from work bowl) onto lightly floured counter and knead dough, adding remaining ¼ cup flour to form a soft, non-sticky dough. Shape dough into two 2-inch wide cylinders. Each will be about 7-½ inches long. Line up the whole almonds lenghtwise in rows along dough and press well into dough. With palms of hands, roll cylinders on counter, enclosing almonds and maintaining the 2-inch diameters of cylinders. Place cylinders 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. In small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon for topping. Beat egg white. Brush cylinders lightly with beaten egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon topping. Bake on upper rack of oven 30 minutes or until lightly browned and very firm. Cool cylinders on cookie sheet 15 minutes or until just warm. Slip them off the sheet and onto counter. With serrated knife, cut diagonal ½-inch slices. Place slices closely together on lightly buttered cookie sheets. Toast the slices about 8 minutes. Using small metal spatula, turn them and bake another 8 minutes or until golden brown. For even baking, rotate cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time. Use a small, angled metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container at room temperature. Keeps several months. SMART COOKIE HINTS Unbleached flour has more gluten-forming proteins, which help to hold the almonds in the dough and make the dough less fragile. When the almonds are placed lengthwise, they do not fall out of the baked dough as readily and are more attractive when sliced. Biscotti can be tricky to cut into neat slices. If the cylinders are too hot or completely cold, the slices tend to break. When cutting the biscotti, hold the cylinder near the end being sliced and press it gently on top. If it is still crumbly, try popping it in the oven for another 5 minutes. Using coarsely chopped almonds instead of whole almonds is another solution, but they are less dramatic in appearance. These are called Mandelbrot (with an umlaut over the "o") in German. Makes 3 dozen 3-inch by 1-½-inch cookies.

Submitted By BILL WHITE MSG#: 2162 Submitted By GAIL SHIPP On 08-25-95

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