I made biscotti this morning as part of a challenge for another group I am in. These are fantastic and super easy!

This is my first time baking biscotti at home. I don’t usually love them from the store because they are SO HARD, like crack your teeth hard. But these were crisp, yet tender and sooo good. Even the hubs, who really doesn’t like biscotti, actually enjoyed them… and then asked if they were easy enough to make to include in our Christmas cookie boxes this year. Oh yes, dear, I have loads of ideas!

Biscotti is like making sugar cookie dough and piling into a flat log, baking, slicing, then baking again. So easy. This recipe comes from The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, page 37.

I also made some little Halloween bags and packaged them up for treats for a few friends.

Happy Halloween!

The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking, pg 37

Ingredients:

85g butter, softened (very soft)

125g sugar

Lemon zest from 1 large lemon

¼ tsp almond extract

2 medium eggs, whisked

250g AP flour

¾ tsp baking powder

2 Tbs lemon juice

25g flaked/sliced almonds + extra for sprinkling

50g powdered sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350* F

Beat butter in mixing bowl until very creamy and soft. Add the sugar, lemon zest and almond extract and beat until fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula.

Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl, add lemon juice and stir. As soon as the flour is worked in, get your hands into the bowl and press it all together.

Scatter half the almonds evenly on the lined baking sheet to cover a rectangle about 30 x 8 cm. Flour your hands and shape the dough into a rough log and then place on top of the almonds. Gently pat out to make a neat and even brick shape, about 30 x 9 x 1.5 cm thick. Scatter the rest of the nuts over the top of the dough.

Bake in the oven for 30 – 35 mins until light golden in color and firm to the touch. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it on a heatproof surface.

Lower oven temp to 325* F

Let biscotti cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then carefully transfer it to a chopping board (with the parchment). Set a fresh sheet of parchment on the baking sheet..

Using a serrated knife carefully cut (using a sawing motion) across the biscotti on a slight diagonal into slices about 1.5 cm thick. Set on the baking sheet cut side up and bake for another 20 – 25 minutes, until golden on the edges. Leave to cook on the baking sheet for 5 mins then transfer to a cooling rack.

When the biscotti are cold, make a glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with the lemon juice in a bowl, the mixture should be the right consistency to be piped or drizzled. Pipe or drizzle the glaze over the biscotti and sprinkle extra almonds over it.