Almond Cinnamon Biscotti

Every time my mom comes to visit she brings her own morning goodies.  These goodies consist of her own coffee, coffee creamer and biscotti cookies.  On her last visit Asher, my 3 year old, "shared" her biscotti cookies and I was afraid she would run out before her visit was over.  So. . . I figured it was time to make some.  These turned out a lot better than I thought they would.  When I got to the step where you shape them into a log I wasn't exactly sure I was doing it correctly.  Thankfully they turned out!  I love this recipe because you could easily add ingredients or switch others.  Switch the nut, add cranberries, switch from cinnamon to nutmeg or cardamon!  Let me know if you switch it up a bit, I'd love to know how others put their own twist to this recipe.

Almond Cinnamon Biscotti

adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup silvered almonds

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon oil (I used canola)

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 F.  Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; mix into the egg mixture.  Stir in almonds. Shape dough into two equal logs, approximately 12 inches long.  Place logs on baking sheet, and flatten out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  

3. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until edges are golden and center in firm.  Remove from oven to cool on the pans.  When loaves are cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to slice the loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Return the slices to the baking sheet.

4.  Bake for an additional 10 minutes, turning over once.  Cool completely.

5.  Melt chocolate chips with oil in microwave.  Stir chips every 15-30 seconds to keep from burning the chocolate.  Place melted chocolate in a piping bag or ziploc bag.  Cut an 1/8 inch from corner of bag and drizzle chocolate over cooled biscotti.