dark chocolate & almond biscotti

before my mother in law flew home a few weeks ago, she had one simple request in exchange for her tomatoes: biscotti.

i've said it before and i'll say it again, biscotti is easy. so much so that i still cannot believe bakeries charge a solid $3 for two small pieces. especially when the texture is never right - either hard as a rock or soft and mushy - and they taste like cardboard. i've never met a bakery biscotti that i've liked.

i made almond instead of pistachio this time, mainly because we were on somewhat of a time crunch and i didn't want to shuck pistachios for a half an hour. and i figured since i was making them, i may as well make a double batch - one for me one for her. i doubled the basic recipe - everything but the chocolate - below and got to the point where the chocolate needed to be added. i eyeballed half the dough and formed it into the log. into the remaining half i added some dark chocolate i broke up with a knife. you could also use chips if you have them or you can skip them all together. but i ended up with half with chocolate and half without. i much prefer the chocolate, but it's totally up to you.

dark chocolate & almond biscotti
adapted from tyler florence's pistachio biscotti
1 hour, makes 24

1 1/2 cups whole, sliced, or slivered almonds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (or microwaved for a few secs to take the chill off)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. preheat your oven to 350F. lay the almonds on a single layer on a sheet pan and bake about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the nuts are toasted. make sure they don't burn - they taste really bitter. remove from the oven and let cool. don't turn off the oven.
2. using a mixer, beat the butter until it's light and fluffy. turn the mixture down to low and gradually add the sugar and vanilla. add the eggs one at a time.
3. add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until smooth.
4. mix in the cooled almonds and chocolate.
5. divide the dough roughly in half. roll each piece of dough into a tube, roughly the size of your rolling pin. move the dough to a parchment lined sheet pan. use your hands to flatten the dough - so instead of a long, circular tube, you have an almost rectangular sheet. repeat with the other piece of dough.
6. bake at 350F for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. let cool on the sheets for 10-15 minutes.
8. slide one of the dough logs onto a cutting board. using a serrated knife, slice the log into 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices. the thickness of your slices will determine how wide your cookies are.
9. place the slices cut side down on the baking sheets, bake 5 minutes, flip them (so the down side is up and the up side is down) and bake an additional 5 minutes.
10. cool on a cooling rack. store in an airtight container and dunk in your morning coffee.