The sweet scent of lavender fills the kitchen with a wonderfully relaxing aroma while the biscotti are baking.  These crunchy, nutty cookies will delight your sense of smell as well as your taste buds!  Perfect for dunking in your favorite coffee or tea.

About 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 medium eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking power
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried sweet lavender buds, finely ground
½ cup sliced almonds

Equipment

Measuring cups and spoons
Wire whisk
Hand blender
Large and medium bowl
Spatula
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Serrated bread knife
Cutting board
Wire cooling rack

Preparation

In a large bowl cream together, sugar, and butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in extracts and eggs and blend until combined. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, lavender and sliced almonds and mix with a wire whisk to blend well. Stir into sugar mixture and mix just until combined. Do not overmix or cookies will become tough.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Halve dough and turn each portion onto the cookie sheet. The dough will be sticky. This is ok. Just rub a bit of vegetable oil or butter onto your hands to make it easier to handle. Without handling the dough excessively, pat the dough into two 13 x 2-inch logs and place them 3 inches apart. Pat and smooth each log. (The logs will not be perfectly round.)

Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool the loaves for about 10 – 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. After loaves cool, place on cutting board and cut diagonally into ½-inch slices with a serrated knife. Lay the slices about ½ an inch apart on the cookie sheet, cut side up, and return them to the oven for 8 minutes. Turn each slice over, return to the oven and bake another 7 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely. Store biscotti in an airtight container for about a month.

Service

Biscotti can be served with your favorite cup of coffee or tea.

Recipe and photo by Lia Soscia