Almond biscotti

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Spread 150 g whole almonds on a tray, toast them in the oven at 175°C for about 8 to 10 minutes, then let them cool, leaving the oven on. Toasting first makes the nuts crunchy and brings out their buttery flavor once they are in the cookies. They are ready when the skins have darkened slightly, the insides are pale golden when you snap one in half and they smell wonderfully nutty.

   Bake at 175°C for about 8 to 10 minutes.

   Mark step 1 as done

2. Step 2

   Whisk 150 g eggs with 200 g granulated sugar for about two minutes, then add 5 g vanilla extract and 4 g orange zest. Sugar partly dissolved in the eggs gives the baked cookies a light sheen. The mixture is ready when it has thickened, turned pale yellow and has tiny bubbles on the surface.

   Mark step 2 as done

3. Step 3

   Sift 280 g all-purpose flour, 5 g baking powder and 2 g salt into the egg bowl and stir with a flat spatula, then add the almonds and squeeze gently with your hands so the dough wraps around the nuts. Biscotti dough is quite sticky, so mix only until it just comes together to keep the cookies from turning rock hard. The dough is ready when it is pliable, slightly sticky and the nuts are evenly distributed.

   Mark step 3 as done

4. Step 4

   Line a tray with parchment paper, wet your hands lightly, divide the dough in two and shape each half into a log about thirty centimeters long and six centimeters wide, placing them well apart. Damp hands let you shape the dough without it sticking. The logs are ready when they are straight, evenly thick and fairly flat on top.

   Mark step 4 as done

5. Step 5

   Bake the two logs at 175°C for 25 to 30 minutes, until they have spread out and are cooked through in the middle. The first bake sets a sturdy structure so the logs can be sliced. They are done when the tops are pale golden with a few cracks and feel firm when pressed lightly.

   Bake at 175°C for about 25 to 30 minutes.

   Mark step 5 as done

6. Step 6

   Take the tray out, lower the oven to 150°C and let the logs cool for about fifteen minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut them on the diagonal into slices about one and a half centimeters thick. Logs that are still slightly warm slice cleanly without the almonds crumbling. The slices are right when the edges are neat and the almonds are cut cleanly in half.

   Suggested time: about 15 minutes.

   Mark step 6 as done

7. Step 7

   Lay the slices cut side down on the tray and bake at 150°C for another 18 to 22 minutes, flipping them once halfway through. The second bake drives off the remaining moisture so the cookies become completely dry and crisp. They are done when both cut sides are dry and pale golden and they sound crisp when tapped.

   Bake at 150°C for about 18 to 22 minutes.

   Mark step 7 as done

8. Step 8

   Move the biscotti to a wire rack and let them cool completely before storing. They keep firming up as they cool, reaching that true cantucci crunch. You know they are ready when you break one open and it is dry all the way through to the center.

   Mark step 8 as done