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2 teaspoons anise extract
2 cups walnuts, chopped small

extra flour for hands

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place your oven racks closest to the middle of the
oven as you possibly can. To bake evenly the middle is the best place to position
your cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl beat, with electric beater on medium speed beat butter until
light and creamy.
3. Beat in sugar, eggs, and lemon and anise extracts.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture into the large bowl until blended well. On the
lowest speed gradually add the walnuts. Form into a ball. Remove the dough from
the bowl to a pastry sheet.
6. Cover an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle the dough and your
hands with flour. Shape the dough into four 12 inch by 3 inch logs or as close to
these dimensions as you can. Bake logs 25 to 35 minutes or until the logs are
lightly browned and firm when touched in the middle. Remove from the oven. Leave
the oven on.
7. Cool logs on cookie sheets for 10 to 12 minutes. If possible place the biscotti
log on a cutting board, or leave on the parchment covered cookie sheet and cut
with a serrated knife (bread knife) into about ½ inch diagonal slices. After
slicing biscotti, space the cookies sporadically standing up the cookie sheet.
Bake the biscotti for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted in this position.
Remove from oven and let the cookies cool completely before serving. Store in an
airtight container in a cool, dry area.
8. ENJOY – Biscotti is best when baked with love…..

This recipe is one of my favorites. It’s a little more work than a regular cookie recipe, but the biscotti are definitely worth it. Biscotti is not too sweet, and if preferred, the mini chocolate chips can be eliminated for a very plain, but tasty, cookie. Kids generally like the added mini chocolate chips, and the older generation Italians in the family favor them without the chocolate chips. Either way, they are delicious, and unlike the biscotti sold in the coffee shops, these are not hard. This recipe will yield a perfectly textured biscotti, toasted on the outside and semi-soft on the inside.

Memories of my Grandmother come flooding back to me whenever I make biscotti. I feel very special to have had the opportunity to grow up in a home with a grandmother. My father’s mother lived in our home until I was 15 years old. There is nothing greater than having your grandmother live with you. Grandma was Italian-American, and she was born in New York City on the lower eastside in Little Italy. When she passed away at 90 years old, she still spoke with an Italian accent. Grandma would give money to my brother and to me for every holiday imaginable. We even got money for Ground Hog’s Day! There was a park about five blocks from our house, and Grandma would meet friends there to sit and chat. She brought me along to sing and dance for their entertainment. My Grandma was a tiny little woman compared to everyone else in our house, and she had a tiny room at the end of the hall with her own TV. She liked to watch soap operas; but at night, if we weren’t allowed to watch our programs on the only TV in the living room, we always knew Grandma would let us watch our favorite programs in her room.

Grandma had her wine delivered to our house every week. She drank red wine three times a day. I can still see her at the table with her small glass of wine and her biscotti. She would dunk the biscotti in the wine. This is not something I could not acquire a taste for, but she enjoyed her biscotti that way.

Make some biscotti and give it to your grandmother with a great big hug. While you’re at it, give her a hug from me too!






One thought on “BISCOTTI”
 



Somebody's Mom met Martha Stewart. I was invited to an event at her offices in Manhattan. My friend, Patti, came along. We were working the room of about 200 people, trying to give my card out. When all of sudden, who is standing in front of me, but Martha Stewart herself. She looks fantastic. I introduced myself and told her how I was invited, (through the Macy’s cooking demo) and handed her my card. I forgot I had a camera with me and asked if I could take a picture with her. She said I could, and was so nice about it. Just as she was about to leave, I told her I brought her my sour cream coffee cake. She took it. Martha Stewart may actually taste my sour cream coffee cake. After that I was done, this was enough excitement for one night. Patti and I left to head home. As we were getting into the elevator, Patti whispered to me, "Hold the door, hold the door!" Who walks into the elevator with us, but Martha Stewart! She asked if we enjoyed the event while taking the elevator down with us. Martha and me, we bonded together for 9 floors and then she was gone. Maybe we will meet again. Hey, you never know! Thanks, Martha, it was fun!
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