Once is Good. Twice is Better.

Crunchy, nutty, and served with a beverage.... my kind of cookie. I've been wanting to try my hand at making biscotti for a good long while and finally a free moment presented itself for baking. Admittedly the recipe comes from a Martha Stewart Holiday Cookie Special I purchased at Target a few weeks ago in a moment of weakness. In my defense, Martha fills one with the illusion that giving away cookie care packages for the Holidays, each containing over a variety of 20 different beautiful and comfortably exotic cookies, is well within the reach of any lady (or gent) who can dream or bake big enough. And so, with Martha bolstering my confidence, I took my first crack at the world of biscotti (according to Wikipedia this word is derived from the Medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning twice baked). The recipe's trademark ingredients are orange zest, fennel seed, and almonds.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that biscotti making is relatively forgiving. I'm almost positive I over mixed the dough, as the second car of the day pulled into the driveway to tell me the goats were out just as the final ingredient was being incorporated into the mixture. Because the cookies naturally share some qualities with hard tack and have a coarse crumb, the texture did not appear to be adversely affected by the goats unannounced vacation plans. My baking efforts resulted in a cookie that had a slightly savory edge to it, which I contributed to the fennel, and was delicious with my afternoon cup of tea. See recipe below.

Rolled into logs before going in the oven.

Slicing with our Appalachian Bow Saw before the 2nd bake

Fennel, Orange, and Nut Biscotti

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (from 2 large oranges)
3 large whole eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup raw almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk to combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, fennel seed, and zest in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and yolk with olive oil. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture, raise speed to medium, and mix until well combined. Mix in nuts.

2. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Using you palms, shape each piece into a log about 10 inches long and 2 inches wide. Arrange logs on a parchment- lined baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Flatten logs slightly.

3. Bake. rotating sheet halfway through, until firm to the touch, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. Transfer logs to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices on the diagonal.

4. Place slices, cut side down, on the sheet. Bake until firm when pressed in center and golden brown at edges.

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen