Jewels of Endearment

I have had the all consuming urge to bake. It hits me like that and I just need to play in the kitchen and make an ungodly mess for my poor hubbie to clean up (she says with an evil grin!). I have been fiddling with creating a lemon biscotti recipe, because biscotti are sweet, but not too much, and I am smitten with lemon cookies. Having discovered how yummy biscotti tastes using olive oil instead of butter, I tweaked a bunch of recipes to come up with these which have enough lemony flavor to bring a little sunshine to your day. I prefer biscotti crisp on the outside and soft on the inside so I don’t double bake them. They came out pretty delicious if I do say so myself!

Lemon and Almond Biscotti

Lemon and Almond Biscotti

Yields about 40 biscotti.

•2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

•1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

•2 tsp. baking powder

•3/4 tsp. salt

•Finely grated zest of 4 Meyers lemon to yield a 1/4 cup lightly packed

•2 cups coarsely chopped almonds (you never can have too many!)

•3 large eggs, at room temperature

•5 Tbs. olive oil

•3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Heat the oven to 350°F. Line three large baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add the lemon zest, mix the zest into the flour to keep it from clumping. Stir the coated zest and the almonds into the rest of the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, olive oil, and lemon juice until well blended. Pour into the flour mixture. Stir until the dough is blended. The dough will be very very very sticky so coat your hands in flour.

Divide the dough into six equal portions. Roll each portion into a log, but dusting with flour along the way to keep the dough from sticking too badly. Set the logs 2 to a baking sheets and then press gently to flatten each log so that it’s 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide.

Bake until the logs are golden and the tops are fairly firm near the center, 25 minutes. Set the sheets on racks until the logs are cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Transfer the logs to a cutting board and cut them on a sharp diagonal into slices 1/2 inch thick. I don’t twice-bake my biscotti because I like them soft.  If you like them harder, you can go the tradition twice-baked route. To double bake, leave the oven set to 350°F. Arrange the slices on the baking sheets, laying them flat with a cut side down. Return the baking sheets to the oven and bake the biscotti for about 6 minutes. Turn the biscotti over and bake until the biscotti are golden, another 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the sheets on racks for 5 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely (the biscotti will get crisp as they cool). Store at room temperature or freeze in an airtight container.