Almond Vanilla Bean Biscotti Food

ALMOND BISCOTTI WITH VANILLA GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place almonds on parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes for even toasting. Let almond cool, then coarsely chop them on a cutting board. Keep oven on.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. By hand or using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then the almond extract. Stir in the almonds. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the egg mixture, then fold in until the dough is just mixed.
• Halve the dough and turn both portions onto the prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, quickly stretch each portion of dough into a rough 13 by 2 inch log. Place the loaves about three inches apart on the baking sheet, patting each one smooth.
• Bake until the loaves until are golden and just beginning to crack on top, about 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool the loaves for 10 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325° F.
• Transfer the loaves to a cutting board. With a serrated knife cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices about 1/2-inch apart on the baking sheet, cut-side up..
• Bake at 325° F, turning over each cookie halfway through baking, until crisp and golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the glaze, whisk together confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, butter, milk and salt until combined. Add more milk if necessary to reach desired consistency. Use a spoon or icing bag to drizzle glaze over the biscotti.

BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Position rack in center of oven. With a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and place in a small bowl. Add the sugar and use your fingers to mix the vanilla evenly into the sugar. Set aside. With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light. Add the vanilla sugar and mix until fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and almonds and stir into the butter mixture.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, shape each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Place the logs on the baking sheet, spacing them as far apart as possible. Bake in the center of the oven until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.
• Place the logs on a cutting board and let them cool slightly. With a serrated knife, cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Place on the baking sheet, cut side down. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, turning once. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

CHEF JOHN'S ALMOND BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl.
• Place butter, 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, olive oil in a separate mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly until mixture has a creamy texture. Add 1 egg; mix into butter/sugar mixture. Whisk in 2nd egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract; whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture. Mix until flour is incorporated. Add whole almonds and chopped almonds; mix in evenly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Divide dough in half. Place each half on a length of plastic wrap and shape into a log. Wrap with the plastic wrap and press into a shape about 3 or 4 inches wide and about 1/2 inch high. Transfer both pieces to prepared baking sheet leaving about 3 or 4 inches of space between them to allow for spreading.
• Bake in center of preheated oven until turning golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before slicing.
• Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cut each piece at a slight angle into 1/2- to 1 -inch thick slices with a serrated knife. Transfer pieces back to baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 12 minutes; remove from oven and flip pieces over. Return pan to oven and bake until biscotti are golden brown and crunchy, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer biscotti to a cooling rack; let cool to room temperature.

THE BEST ALMOND BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Adjust rack to center position and heat the oven to 350 degree. Line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper.
• Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nuts in a large bowl and stir to combine. In a small bowl combine the eggs, butter and vanilla and whisk to fully combine.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Using a rubber spatula, mix to combine until a rough dough forms.
• Dump the dough onto a work surface and knead a couple of times until the dough comes together, adding extra flour sparingly and only if necessary. Start to form the dough into a big, fat cigar and cut it in half. Form each half into a cigar about 1 inch thick, 2 inches wide and about 12 inches long. Place them onto the cookie sheet and lightly press with fingers to slightly flat cigars.
• Bake for 25 minutes reversing the pan halfway through. The bars will be firm to the touch and just slightly browned. Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 300 degrees. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes.
• Remove cookies to a cutting board using two spatulas. Using a serrated knife, slice the bars on an angle about 1/2 inch tick to form the biscotti. Lay them back on the cookie sheet with either cut side down and place back in oven for 15 minutes. Turn each cookie to expose the other cut side and place in oven for another 15 minutes. Let cool on a rack to room temperature. Place cookies in an airtight container.

ALMOND VANILLA BEAN BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
• Add egg and egg white and continue beating until creamy, then add the vanilla,vanilla bean (scrapings) salt and buttermilk and mix until combined.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together into a medium bowl.
• Add the dry stuff to the wet stuff in the mixing bowl, but do it a little at a time.
• When all the flour's in, toss in the finely chopped almonds, but save a couple tablespoons of the nuts for something we'll do later.
• Don't mix this dough too much or it might toughen up; you only want to mix it enough to get all the ingredients incorporated, and then you'll have tender biscotti.
• You may want to use your hands to work everything together as the dough thickens.
• Form the dough into a rectangular loaf on a lightly greased or parchment paper-lined sheet pan.
• The dimensions of the loaf should be somewhere around 10 inches long and 5 inches wide, and about an inch thick in the middle.
• Sprinkle the left over almond bits over the top of the loaf, then bake it for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top has turned light brown.
• Remove this now puffed-up loaf from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes or as long as it takes for it to be cool enough to handle and slice.
• When it's cool, move the biscotti loaf to a cutting board.
• Use a long serrated bread knife to slice the dough across its width.
• Make slices that are approximately 3/4-inch thick.
• Keep the slices standing up and move them back to the sheet pan.
• Position them in rows on the pan so that they aren't touching, then pop the whole pan back into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are crisp on the outside.
• When you remove the cookies from the oven, keep them out on the sheet pan for several hours or overnight so that they completely dry out.