Cherry Almond Biscotti

Subject: Cherry Almond Biscotti Fri Apr 30, 2010 11:03 am

Now here is a recipe for an Italian treat with my usual twist. These are really great when you have friends over and want something different to serve with tea. They are baked twice and depending on your likes or dislikes they can be made semi-soft or crisp and crunchy.

Cherry Almond Biscotti

Ingredients

½ cup (125 ml) soft butter
1 cup (250ml) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. (5ml) vanilla ext.
1 tsp. (5ml)almond ext.
2 ¾ cups (680ml) flour
1 ½ tsp. (7.5ml) baking powder
¼ tsp. (6.25ml) salt
¾ cup (375ml) chopped Marichino cherries
½ cup (125ml) blanched/sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325f (162c)

Method

Lightly grease large cookie sheet.

Place eggs, butter, vanilla and almond extracts & eggs in a bowl and beat until fluffy. I use an electric mixer. (I also add 2 tablespoons of the juice from the Marichino cherries to give the batter a pinkish colour. This is not necessary unless you want the colour. A drop or two of food colouring would also serve this purpose.)

In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients all at once. Stir until just combined, (Do Not Over Mix.)

Fold in almonds & cherries.

Divide dough in half.

Shape each piece into a log about 12” long, pllace on cookie sheet side by side and press down on each one to make it more of an eclipse than round. It should be about 3” wide.

Bake @325f (162c) for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven, let stand 10 minutes.

Slice on the diagonal about 2” thick for a softer centre, ½" thick for crisp all through. Return to cookie sheet standing each piece upright. Bake an additional 30 minutes.

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