More from my afternoon of baking with Anita!

Neither of us had made Biscotti before, so we weren't quite sure how it would turn out.  And true to form, I changed the recipe to suit myself before we had even started!!

Here's the Original Recipe, and my adaptation is as follows:

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

We followed the rest of the directions as per the original recipe:

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Beat eggs, egg whites, and vanilla in a separate bowl until frothy.
4. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, mixing just until moist, using an electric mixer on medium speed.

The batter was so thick!!  I thought we were going to blow up the mixer!

5. Add almonds and cranberries; mix thoroughly.
6. On a floured surface, divide batter in half and pat each half into a log about 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for 30 minutes.
8. Cool on wire rack.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 300ºF.
10. Cut biscotti into 1/2 inch slices. Stand upright on cookie sheet and bake another 20 minutes.

I think the most important part of making a good Biscotti is to let it cool well, and store it somewhere airy to keep it crunchy - almost letting it go stale-ish.  It was deliciously sweet, and I'll be making this again soon to eat all myself!!

These looked fantastic lined up in cellophane bags, tied with curling ribbon!