Biscotti for Three Tomatoes Trattoria

Pine nut, Almond and Bittersweet Chocolate Biscotti

One of my favorite cookies to make and eat are biscotti.  They stay fresh longer than any other cookie, take to a variety of ingredients with little fuss and are delicious for breakfast and after dinner.  A few months ago my husband Bill Howard started searching for a new biscotti vendor.  Bill, the executive chef for Three Tomatoes in Lebanon, doesn't eat a lot of sweets but really enjoys my biscotti.  A year ago I made biscotti for Three Tomatoes for an Italian wine pairing dinner and they were a success but I wasn't ready to start baking for them.  This fall when my husband asked me again I decided to take the plunge.

At $19.95 a pound I probably won't be able to use pine nuts in the biscotti at Three Tomatoes but I can share them with you.  If you have left over pine nuts store them in a sealed container in the freezer as they tend to turn sooner than other nuts.  These biscotti are wonderful because of the earthy flavors of the nuts and cinnamon and the bittersweet chocolate.  Enjoy!


Pine Nut, Almond and Bittersweet Chocolate Biscotti

For Dough:

1 Cup Sugar
6 Tablespoons Softened Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs

Sift:
2 Cups
1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder

3 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the sugar and butter in a mixer.  Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the sifted dry ingredients with mixer on low until just mixed.  Stir in the chocolate and nuts.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Shape the dough into approximately 3 logs that are two inches wide and the length of your cookie sheet.  If you need to even out the logs you can moisten your fingers with water and pat the dough down into shape.

Bake the cookie logs for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown and firm to touch (not hard but you shouldn't be able to easily make a depression with your fingertip).

Pull from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.  Take a large sharp knife (I use a chef's knife but your could also use a serrated bread knife).  Cut the logs into 1/2" to 5/8" slices.  Depending on how large you want your cookies you can slice on the diagonal or straight across.  Put these cookies back on the cookie sheet slice face up (or down) and bake for about 7 minutes.  Turn the cookies over and bake another 7 or so minutes until they feel crisp to touch.  They will crisp further once they are out of the oven.

Remove from the cookie sheet and place on a cookie rack to cool.  Once they are completely cooled they can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.  Enjoy!

Makes approximately 40 cookies