Lenox Almond Biscotti

Recipe adapted from Baking From my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan, page 141. 

What you need 
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour 
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
- 1/4 tsp salt 
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 
- 1 stick (113gm) of butter 
- 1 cup sugar (I reduced it to 3/4 cup) 
- 2 large eggs (I used 60gm eggs with shell) 
- 1 1/2 tsp almond extract 
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds, blanched or unblanched[/list] 

What to do 
- Preheat oven to 170C. Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone sheet. 
- Sift flour, baking powder, cornmeal and salt tog and whisk to blend. Set aside. 
- Cream butter and sugar tog till light, add in eggs one at a time. Scraping down the bowl as needed and whisk till mixture is light, smooth and creamy (abt 2 mins). Beat in almond extract. 
- Reduce mixer speed to low, add in dry ingredients and mix till incorporated. You'll have a sticky-to-finger dough. 
- Scrape half the dough onto 1 side of the baking sheet, work the dough into a log abt 12 inches long and 1 1/2inches wide. Form a 2nd log with the remaining dough on the other side of the baking sheet. 
- Bake for 15mins, or until the logs are lightly golden brown but still soft and springy to touch. Remove baking sheet from oven and leave it to cool for abt 30mins. 
- Cut the logs into 3/4in slices, line them cut-side up onto the baking sheet. 
- Bake biscotti for another 15mins or so, till they are golden and firm. Transfer to cooling racks and store only when completely cooled.

by Ida

Hazelnut Biscotti

Ingredients 
2 eggs 
200 gr. Sugar 
1/2 juice glass of canola oil (for richer taste you can use olive oil) 
250 gr. flour 
150 gr. shelled halzelnuts. 

Beat eggs with sugar, add the oil and the flour until it forms a sticky dough. 
Place hazelnuts in a ziploc bag and crush them (in large pieces). Incorporate the hazelnuts in the dough. Place some flour on the countertop, dump the dough and knead until homogenously mixed. Add flour while kneading so that at the end the dough will not stick to your fingers. 
Divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll them into a small cylinder shape. Gently press on the top to make them slightly oblong. 
Transfer them onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, at this point you look at them they should be slightly brownish. 
Take them out of the oven and cut thick slices (about one inch). 
Place slices into same cookie sheet and rebake for 10-15 minutes at the same temperature. Let them cool and enjoy! 


by Imelda