Almond Ginger Biscotti

I don't know where all of you live, but here in SouthWestern Ontario it has been FREAKING cold the last week or so. Needless to say that when I got back to my apartment Sunday afternoon it was a little chilly and decided to bake something to warm the place up...hence, the biscotti. This was my first attempt at biscotti, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. It's really not too hard to make, and you can be as creative as you like when it comes to flavours. This recipe comes from the blog that introduced me to blogs in the first place: 'Simply Recipes' which has just recently won the Best Recipe Blog-Overall.
The original recipe called for molasses and allspice, both of which I didn't have on hand, and since there was no way I was leaving my apartment for the permafreeze outdoors, I used honey instead of the molasses and ground up cardomon and cloves to a fine powder to replace the allspice. I can assure you that the results were still very tasty :-)

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup molasses (or honey)
3 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and all spice (or other spices)
1/4 cup fresh ginger,minced
1 cup raw almonds


1. Place almonds on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350°F, let cool, then roughly chop.

2. Cream sugar, molasses (or honey) and butter. Add eggs, one at a time. Add the minced ginger.

3 Mix flour, baking powder, and all the spices. Add dry mixture into the butter and eggs mix, a little at a time or you'll be covered in flour!

4. Once you have a ball of sweet dough, incorporate the almonds so that they are evenly distributed. You can refrigerate the dough after this step to make it easier to handle, but I didn't have any problems working with the one I made without refrigerating it.

5. On a lightly floured counter or board divide the dough into (2) or (3) portions, depending on what size you want your biscotti to be. I made short biscotti, so I divided the dough into (3), but if you prefer the longer type, commonly seen in coffee houses, divy it up in (2).

6. Next, shape the dough into logs about 20 to 30 cm long, 10 to 20 cm wide (depending again, on how you prefer your biscotti) and 2 to 3 cm high. Transfer to a greased and floured baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand until cool enough to handle.

7. On cutting board, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Return pieces cut side down to baking sheet. Re-bake 15-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container.

Dip in your warm, sweet beverage of choice or wine, like the Italian's do.

NOTE: When you go to re-bake the biscotti slices, the flour on your baking sheets will likley be a little burnt, so cover them up with aluminum foil so that your biscotti don't become a dark brown colour on one side....like mine did :-p