3 am Biscotti

No, you do not have to make this recipe at 3 am.  If I'm honest, I hope you don't. I also I hope that I don't do it that early again either but baking at extremely early hours is almost a trademark of mine.

I didn't WANT to be up at 2:30 this morning.  My husband is out of town and, although I love that man with my whole soul, he snores like a freight train.  So when he is out of town, I get the whole bed to myself and can usually sleep until at least 5am.

Yes, 5am is sleeping in for me.  Go ahead, call me crazy!  I agree!

But, despite my best attempts this morning, a mixture of our puppy, who was lonely, and our robotic maverick vacuum that refuses to function based on the preset programmed schedule time of 11am, I was wide a wake.

But, who could say no to this face??  I mean, SERIOUSLY?!?!

I could've gone for a run since it was cool out and the humidity was low.  But that would just be a crazy thing to do at 3am!

So I made two batches of Biscotti.  Because that is a COMPLETELY normal thing to do at 3am!

I wasn't sure what I was going to throw together until I opened the cabinet and noticed the bag of dried cranberries.  OK, so do I have any pistachios?  No -- crap.  Oh well.  My first thought was Cranberry Pistachios Biscotti but I can do without the nuts this time.  And since I have one son that doesn't like fruit or chocolate (and people call ME crazy!), I also whipped up some Chai Spiced Biscotti.

When I say 'whipped up', I really do mean it.  Biscotti does bake a little longer than most cookies but the time it takes to put them together is minimal. I put together the first batch of dough, put it in the oven and, close to the end of the baking time, I mix up the second batch of dough.

The first batch comes out and cools and then gets sliced while the second batch is getting it's first bake done.  After batch 2 finishes it's first bake, batch 1 goes in for it's second bake. They come out to cool and be iced while batch 2 gets it's second bake.

Easy peasy!  Trust me, if I can do it before the coffee is fully brewed, you can too!

Biscotti literally means 'twice baked' in Italian.  You bake the cookies as a log, basically, and then slice the log into individual wedges and then bake again until crisp. Add a little icing or dip in chocolate and you're done!

And the most awesome thing about Biscotti is that you can change up the flavors to suit your taste or based on the ingredients you have on hand! The recipe for the base dough is Johnny Iuzzini's.  I usually try to improve on recipes after I make them once or twice but, honestly, I can't find anything that I don't like in Johnny's recipes! I change up the spice mix and add-ins based on what I have and what I feel like eating!

Below is the recipe for the Chai Spiced Biscotti.  You can find the recipe for the Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti HERE.

Chai Spiced Biscotti

Makes about 12 biscotti cookies

Adapted from Johnny Iuzzini’s Recipe

Ingredients

For the Dough

5oz all-purpose flour

3oz granulated sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

⅛ teaspoon allspice

⅛ teaspoon white pepper

Dash of nutmeg

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 whole large eggs, lightly beaten

For the glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 ½ - 2 Tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the oil and eggs. Add egg mixture to the dry mixture and mix until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
3. Shape into a flat rectangle a parchment lined sheet tray, about 5x7 inches.
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool slightly and then cut into 12 slices. (I cut off the ends and snack on those right away!) Lay the slices on their sides on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Reduce oven to 300F and bake slices for 15 minutes. Flip the biscotti and bake another 10 minutes until crisp but not browned. Remove to a cooling rack and leave to cool.
6. Stir the powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of milk in a small bowl until combined. Add another ½ Tablespoon of milk and stir until smooth. Add the remaining ½ Tablespoon of milk if desired but you want the glaze to be thick.  Drizzle the glaze with a spoon over the biscotti.