Gingerbread Biscotti

I have such a backlog of posts, it's not even funny. I have things I need to post from Halloween! I actually think that's part of the reason I haven't posted much lately, I'm so paralyzed by how behind I am. The other reason is that I have a photo album on Facebook I've been using to document the holiday season. But, I made some really awesome biscotti yesterday, and figured that would be any easy way to dive back in to my blog. I found the recipe here on Smitten Kitchen. I made pretty much no alterations to the recipe.

Biscotti done and cooling.

Gingerbread Biscotti
2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
7 Tbsp butter, melted and cool
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup nuts, white chocolate, or dark chocolate (opt.)
1 large egg white

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line one large or two small baking sheets (I used two) with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, spices, pepper, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, butter, two eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients and any nuts and chocolate to the dry mixture. Stir until thoroughly combined. (I used about 3/4 cup of toasted almond slices and no chocolate in this batch.)

3. Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, put each half onto the baking sheet and form it into a slightly flattened log about 11 inches by 2 1/2 inches. Whisk the egg white until a little foamy and loose. Brush the egg white over the top and sides of each log.

Logs shaped, brushed with egg white, and ready to go in the oven.

4. Bake logs until golden brown all over, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool about 25 minutes, until lukewarm.

They were definitely most pretty right when they came out of the oven.

5. Use a sharp serrated knife and cut logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch wide slices. Arrange the slices, a cut side down, on baking sheet. Bake for another 10-12 minutes, until golden underneath. Turn each biscotti over and bake for another 6-8 minutes. Let cool on a rack.

6. Enjoy with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate!

Note from experience: In step 5, when you're baking the individual slices, be warned that it is the bottom that is browning, not the top. I totally left them in for over 15 minutes because I couldn't see a noticeable color change on top. Little did I know the bottom was cooking away. I almost burnt them! When checking for done-ness in that step, pick it up and take a glance at the bottom.

Biscotti are a great thing to make around the holidays because they can keep at room temperature in an airtight container for weeks.

And just for fun, here is a picture of me being the SS Christmas Elf at work. (SS technically stands for Secret Santa, but one of the actors got confused and thought of Nazi's, hence the helmet plus the holiday hat.)