Apricot Almond Biscotti

Biscotti are genius. I mean, who would have thought if we used the Italian word for cookie we could eat our favorite treats for breakfast? I wonder if Italians say “cookie” to ease their breakfast guilt? Ok, so probably not.

Anyway, I adore this biscotti recipe so much I don’t make it very often. They’re too dangerous to my shrinking pants to have sitting around the house. A couple are fine, but I’m much too fond of these things. On those rare days there's apricot almond biscotti here I tend to brew a large pot of coffee, and God forbid I let good coffee and excellent biscotti go to waste. Instead it tends to go to waist! Unless I can get them out the door and into the innocent hands of unbeknownst friends quickly enough.

Apricot Almond Biscotti
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup almonds, toasted and chopped into large pieces
¾ cup finely snipped dried apricots (toss in a couple tablespoons of flour so they don't sink to the bottom of your cookies)

1. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 second. Add sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon; beat in as much flour as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining flour, almonds, and apricots. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill until easy to handle.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Shape each portion into a 9-inch log. Place 4 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten logs slightly until about two inches wide.

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let logs on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Cool logs on a cookie sheet on a wire rack for 1 hour. Save the parchment to reuse.

5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. With a serrated knife, cut each log diagonally into ½ to ¾ inch slices (picture above). Lay slices cut side down on the parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 8 to 10 more minutes until dry and crisp. Transfer cookers to cooling rack to cool.

Recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book, 1998, with slightly rewritten instructions for clarity. Picture by Laura Flowers.