Biscotti

A month or so ago I bought a wonderful cookbook while visiting Boston. It's called The North End Italian Cookbook and so far every recipe I have made has been quite the success.

Although I try and deny it, I have a nasty sweet tooth. I have managed to curb it a bit, and have trained myself (mostly) to portion control. But, every day around 1:00 pm I have the need for a cup of tea and something sweet. I was buying organic chocolate bars and portioning off little pieces. But, I really am trying to make more of my own food. So, when I came across the recipe for Chocolate Walnut Biscotti, I knew I had to give this a try.

Before my sister returned home we spent an afternoon making Biscotti. We made a batch of ginger Biscotti, and a batch of cinnamon toast Biscotti. It took us a bit to figure out how to properly cut the Biscotti for the final trip to the oven, and decided we needed to try and make it thinner. The pieces that I made for the Chocolate Walnut Biscotti were about perfect. I made the loaves narrower and longer so the pieces ended up being smaller. See, I can all myself a piece - but if you give me a bigger piece I'll eat that!

We took the Biscotti over to a friend's house for dinner that night (along with some Ricotta Cookies I made from the same recipe book). They were delicious - but as with all Biscotti, they got better as they aged. It's been a week and they're delightful. Such a great, easy treat. I am going to expand my repertoire and try some different flavors. It has greatly enhanced my 1:00 pm tea drinking ritual.