Making Biscotti

 I am attending a tea party tomorrow and have offered to make the "sweets" for it.  In this house, biscotti is usually made by my sweetheart, but he is just too dang busy right now to take the time required.  And baby, these take time.  So, in between sewing lessons with my grands and playing games, I am attempting something new.  I should get kudos because I even managed to take pictures along the way so that I could share with ya'll.  Enjoy -

Living with my sweetheart has indeed taught me about "mise en place" or locating everything I need and making sure it is ready to go.  This recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of ground aniseed and I don't have that, BUT I do have whole star anise.  It's a simple matter of putting it in the spice grinder we keep just for these occasions.

Reading a little further down I notice that I need 1 cup of whole almonds, toasted, and coarsely chopped.  Okay -- oven on and let's get these roasted.

This can be done quite easily.  Heat oven to 300 degrees and place the almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Place in center rack on oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are a darker golden color.

Now, into a chopper they go and voila, coarsely ground toasted almonds.

Melt 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks of unsalted butter in a small bowl.

Okay I think those are the only I have to prep.  Now for the rest of the gathering:  flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.

Change the temperature in the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1/3 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl.  (I KNOW -- what a strange amount)

In a large bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the melted butter, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, and the ground aniseed.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended.

Mix in the chopped almonds.

Once it is completely mixed, divide dough in half.

Using floured hands, shape each dough half into a 13 1/2" long x 2 1/2" wide log and place on prepared baking sheet, spacing apart as logs will spread.

Whisk one egg white in a small bowl until foamy.

Brush over top and sides of each dough log.

With oven rack still in the center, bake logs until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Cool logs completely on sheet on rack, about 25 minutes.  Maintain oven temperature.

Transfer logs to work surface, discard parchment paper.  Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2" wide slices.

Arrange slices, cut side down, on same baking sheet (I added a wire rack, but it is not required).  Bake 12 minutes.  Turn biscotti over and bake until just beginning to color, about 8-10 minutes.

Transfer to rack to cool (or just lift out the rack you inserted).  These can be prepared 1 week ahead.  store in airtight container at room temperature.