Sweets and Treats – Lemon Almond Biscotti

I am a Bare Minerals addict. I love their makeup. It always makes my skin look flawless, yet so light that it does not feel like I am wearing makeup. I was putting on some eye shadow this morning and I realized that I grabbed a color called “Dulce de Leche” from my Bare Minerals Sweet Decadence collection I got for Christmas.

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As I was putting it on I decided to pair it with another color in this collection called “Tiramasu.” Dulce de Leche is the eye shadow on the far left of the picture, while Tiramasu is on the far right. For some reason, putting on these eye shadows at 6:15 in the morning lifted my spirits for the rest of the day.

I think one of my favorite things about beauty products is their names. For instance, I love OPI nail polish because not only does it last on my nails, but they have the most clever names. For example:

• Can You Tapas This (Spain collection)
• You Don’t Know Jacques (French Collection)
• I’m In-dia Mood for Love (India Collection)

All this talk about sweets inspired me to make some Almond and Lemon Biscotti Dipped in White Chocolate (thank you Giada de Laurentiis – whose name I just learned how to spell. Who knew there were two i’s in her name?).

I pretty much followed her recipe step by step – except that I drizzled white chocolate on the biscottis instead of dipping them in white chocolate.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from about 3 to 4 lemons)
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped whole almonds
• 18 ounces white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

In another large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixture until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Mix in the lemon zest and then the flour, and beat until just blended. (The dough will be sticky). Stir in the almonds. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into 2 (9 by-3-inch) logs. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet.

Bake until the cookies are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the pan does not touch the water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the end of each biscotti in the chocolate. Transfer the dipped biscotti to a wire rack, set over a baking sheet, until the chocolate has hardened. Store in an airtight container.

I made biscotti once before and they did not turn out nearly as good as these. In the middle of baking I said to Eric, “Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think these biscottis are going to be the bomb.com.” Yes I used the phrase bomb.com.

They are indeed the bomb.com. I just enjoyed one with my morning coffee. After I ate two frozen waffles with peanut butter and bananas. Oops. Looks like its going to be a carb filled kind of day. I need my energy though. Tomorrow Eric and I are waking up bright and early (on a Saturday – not fair), to go white water rafting with some friends. I have to be honest. I am scared out of my mind. Water freaks the heck out of me. Something about the fact that water is more powerful than I am, and can pretty much have its way with me. Especially in the form of rapids, and one particular rapid called “Satan’s Cesspool.” Yeah. That name really comforts me.

I’m off to work and then meeting up with Eric and his friends for sushi later tonight. YUM.

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