We’ve all been invited over to the house of a friend of family member for a meal. Maybe it’s dinner, lunch, or a casual brunch. And we’ve all been told, “no need to bring anything!” But obviously you can’t go empty-handed. You can always go classic with a bottle of wine, but what if you want to do something different? One of my go-to’s is a loaf of homemade bread and a jar of homemade jam that I keep in my pantry at all times, but not everyone is 29 going on 79 and spends their summers home-canning like I do. Biscotti, the classic Italian cookie, is the perfect gift. It has a longer shelf-life than a lot of cookies and is perfect for dessert, afternoon tea, or breakfast.
I’m sharing this recipe now because there’s never NOT a good time for biscotti, but this would make an excellent Christmas cookie too. After testing this recipe, I found myself enjoying a cookie (or two) with my own mug of tea in the afternoon or evening. I have always loved an afternoon cup of tea and while I don’t always have time to sit and sip it slowly like I would like, when I do have the time to do that these biscotti are the perfect companion.
It probably makes the most sense to eat the chocolate half of these cookies first to prevent chocolate from melting on your fingers, but I found myself saving the chocolate half for last. It’s like how you choose to eat Oreos; there’s no right or wrong way to do it!
Make these for yourself or for your next hostess gift, either way, you’ll be happy that you did!
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp. almond extract
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup whole toasted almonds
- 1½ cups chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Roughly chop almonds and then add them to the flour mixture. I like having a variety of sizes in the almond pieces; some large ones for extra crunch and some finely chopped to blend in with the flour.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix to combine.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form two logs out of the dough. You're going to want at least 4 inches of space between them on the parchment paper because they will spread quite a bit.
- Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, slice into about 1 to 1½ inch thick pieces. lay down flat on the baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove and let cool completely.
- Once cool, microwave chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds.
- Dip cookies into the melted chocolate. Using a spoon to drizzle the chocolate on can be helpful too.
- Let cool on parchment paper until chocolate is solid.
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