Toasted Almond Anise Biscotti

Every weekend the kids insist on having pizza for dinner, so last Friday we went to our favorite italian restaurant which serves italian style tapas along with pizza. So there's something for mommy and the kids! The meal was great, but at the end of the meal came something unexpected, tiny biscotti that ended the meal on a slightly sweet note. They were amazing, my son loved them! So... I went on a mission to make these myself. I searched biscotti recipes all around and came up with this Toasted Almond Anise Biscotti.

The biscotti we had at the restaurant was almond, but since I cannot leave well enough alone, I added a bit of anise flavor to punch it up. Also I'm still obsessing on the anise cookie I made over Christmas, so why not add that flavor into this biscotti. Aside from the 2 step baking process, making biscotti was not as intimidating as I thought! The dough comes together rather quickly, without a lot of ton ingredients. 

Made with melted butter instead od the typical softened butter was the only major difference between this and a regular cookie dough. Sugar, melted butter and the flavor extracts get mixed in a bowl. Then eggs get beaten in and to that the flour and almonds get added. The dough is chilled for 30 minutes. Once chilled, shape the dough into 4X10" logs and bake for about 30 minutes. This gets cooled and sliced into 3/4" cookies.

Place the sliced cookies onto the baking sheet and bake again for 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Toasted Almond Anise Biscotti

*Adapted from The Blue Eyed Baker

Yields 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp anise extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dry toasted silvered almonds (I used Trader Joe's)

Method

1. Melt butter in a pan and allow to cool slightly
2. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, stir together sugar, melted butter and extracts.  Add eggs and mix to combine.
3. Then add the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Fold in almonds.  Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes.
4. While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350 F.
5. Wet your hands and shape dough into 2 4-by-10-inch logs on an ungreased baking sheet and bake until pale golden, about 30-35 minutes. Transfer logs to a rack and cool for 20 minutes.
6. Using a very sharp, serrated knife, cut logs into 3/4 inch slices and arrange on a clean baking sheet, cut side down.  Bake biscotti until golden, about 25 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
7. If desired, you can dip some (or all) of the biscotti in melted chocolate.  Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Cool slightly, it should be warm but not hot.  Store biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature.