Recipe - Almond Biscotti 4

1 cup Sugar
One half cup Butter, sweet; melted
3 tablespoon Brandy
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Almond extract
1 cup Almonds, unsalted; chopped
3 Eggs
2 One half cup Flour
One half tablespoon Baking powder
One fourth teaspoon Salt

Preheat oven to 350~. Mix sugar with butter, brandy, vanilla, almond
extract, nuts and eggs. Mix well.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Form into a long loaf (or loaves),
place on a cookie sheet and bake for 2030 minutes or until firm and softly
cakelike. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

When cool enough to handle, slice into One half inch diagonal slices and return
to cookie sheet. Bake for 1525 miutes, turning once, until both sides are
brownflecked and toasted. Cool thoroughly and store in an airtight jar.

Makes 23 dozen.

Variation 1 (Mandlebrot): increase sugar to 1One fourth cups. Diced dried
apricots may by added.

Variation 2: for a clasic aniseflavored biscotto, substitute Pernod, Ouzo
or Anisette for the brandy and omit the almond extract. Several
tablespoons of anise seeds may be added for additional oomph.

Variation 3 (Hazelnut biscotti): use hazelnuts in place of almonds. A
hazelnut liqueur may be used instead of brandy. Omit the almond extract.

Variation 4 (Mediterranean biscotti): use rosewater instead of brandy.
Substitute unsalted pistachio nuts for the almonds, and add One fourth One half cup
minced figs to the dough.

Variation 5 (Gingerflavored biscotti): to the basic dough, add 1 Tbsp
powdered ginger, a generous dash of cloves and cinnamon, 1 or 2 Tbsp of
candied ginger and One fourth cup raisins, if desired. Omit the almond extract.

Variation 6 (Paximatha): this Greek rusk dates back to the 5th century,
virtually unchanged. Substiture One half to Three fourths cup toasted sesame seeds for
the almonds. Omit the almond extact and flavor the dough with 1 tsp
cinnamon and One half tsp cloves.

Variation 7 (Fekkas): a Moroccon twicebaked cookie. Substitute orange
flower water for the brandy.

Variation 8; Pine nuts may be used instead of almonds, though the richness
may be less desirable than the crunch of the toasted almonds. Candied
fruits, too, may be added, One fourth to One half cup assorted fruits blended into the
dough before baking.

Variation 9 (Chocolate Dipped): melt One half pound semisweet chocolate in the
top of a double boiler over just simmering water. If it "seizes" or
"tightens", add 2 Tbsp of unsalted buter and it should smooth out again.
Dip only one side of each cookie (the chocolate won't seal in the moisture
that way).
Posted to EATL Digest 22 October 96

Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 11:32:40 0500

From: Connie Anderson connie@USA.NET