Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
  
• 3/4 cups sugar
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1 1/2 cups of almonds chopped so pieces are fairly large or you can
  leave them whole (unblanched)
  
• 3 large eggs
  
• 2 tsp vanilla
  
• optional - a few drops of almond flavor

Instructions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I use heavy brown wrapping paper and it works well. If in a pinch, I use a grocery sack turned inside out and cut it to fit the baking sheet. Lightly grease the paper if you use brown paper. I run a stick of butter over the paper.

2. Set oven to 350 degrees.

3. Put flour, sugar, b. powder, cinnamon and salt in bowl and stir well. Stir in almonds. Whisk the eggs together with vanilla. Put this into the flour mixture. Knead it lightly in bowl and then knead it until smooth on a floured surface. Divide the dough in half and make 12 inch logs of each half. Put them on the papered baking pan and press them so they are 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Bake for 30 minutes. Slide the rolls and the paper off the pan and cool for 30 minutes.

4. Reheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking pans with paper as in the first step. Use a serrated knife and cut these logs diagonally into 1/4 inch wide slices. Place sliced sides down on the two pans and bake another 10 minutes. It is this second baking that makes them nice and crunchy. Cool on the pan.

5. These keep a month in an airtight container. You can coat them with chocolate - though we haven't needed those extra calories