Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

2 c Flour
1/4 ts Baking soda
1 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Salt
2/3 c Sugar
5 ts Orange zest; finely chopped*
2 Egg
1/4 c Oil
1 1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1/2 ts Almond extract
1 2/3 c Almonds, unblanched sliced
1/3 c Almonds, unblanched whole

--------------------------TOPPING-------------------------------
2 tb Sugar
1/8 ts Cinnamon, ground
1 Egg white

*Remove zest from orange in lengthwise strips with a vegetable
peeler, and chop finely. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Food Processor
Method: In a medium bowl, sift together all but 1/4 c of the flour
with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to mix it
well. In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugar and
orange zest until the zest is finely minced. Add the eggs and process
for about 30 seconds or until thoroughly blended. Scrape the sides of
the bowl. With the motor running, add the oil and extracts and
process until blended. Add the sliced almonds and process until
finely chopped. Add the flour mixture and process for about 7 seconds
or until the flour is almost incorporated. (There will be some flour
clinging to the sides of the work bowl. Do not overprocess as the
dough will be too stiff to incorporate the flour completely in the
processor.) Electric Mixer Method: Finely grate the orange zest.
Finely chop the sliced almonds. Place them both in a medium bowl.
Sift together all but 1/4 cup of the flour with the baking powder,
baking soda, and salt and add to the nuts and zest. Whisk together to
mix them well. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs for
several minutes, until very thick and pale in color. With the mixer
at medium speed, beat in the oil and extracts. At low speed,
gradually beat in the flour mixture. For both methods: Scrape the
dough (including any flour from the work bowl) onto a lightly flour
counter and knead the dough, adding the remaining 1/4 c flour to form
a soft, non-sticky dough. Shape the dough into two 2-inch wide
cylinders. Each will be about 7 1/2 inches long. Line up the whole
almonds lengthwise in rows along the dough and press them well into
the dough. With the palms of your hands, roll the cylinders on the
counter, enclosing the almonds and maintaining the 2-inch diameters
of the cylinders. Place the cylinders 2 inches apart on a cookie
sheet. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon for the
topping. Beat the egg white. Brush the cylinders lightly with the
beaten egg white and sprinkle them with the cinnamon topping. Bake on
the upper rack of the oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned
and very firm. Cool the cylinders on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes
or until just warm. Slip them off the sheet and onto a counter. With
a serrated knife, cut diagonal 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices
closely together on lightly buttered cookie sheets. Toast the slices
for about 8 minutes. Using a small metal spatula, turn them and bake
for another 8 minutes or until golden brown. For even baking, rotate
the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway
through the baking period. [I NEVER do this, because I think you lose
too much of your heat when you open the door to do it, so you're no
longer baking at the correct temperature. ~-Leti] Use a small, angled
metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer the cookies to wire racks
to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room
temperature. Keeps several months. Smart cookie hints: * Unbleached
flour has more gluten-forming proteins, which help to hold the
almonds in the dough and make the dough less fragile. * When the
almonds are placed lengthwise, they do not fall out of the
baked dough as readily and are more attractive when sliced. *
Biscotti can be tricky to cut into neat slices. If the cylinders are
too hot or completely cold, the slices tend to break. When cutting
the biscotti, hold the cylinder near the end being sliced and press
it gently on top. If it is still crumbly, try popping it in the oven
for another 5 minutes. Using coarsely chopped almonds instead of
whole almonds is another solution, but they are less dramatic in
appearance.

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