Biscotti: Put on a Happy Face

I love biscotti!  Since I don't drink coffee, I either have it with milk or hot chocolate or eat it by itself!  If I'm planning to eat it plain, I don't bake it quite as long so the cookie stays a little soft.

I've never dipped my biscotti in chocolate for a tasty, cooler look, but I'm sure it would be good.  I'd consider pairing it with white chocolate, since macadamia nuts and white chocolate go so well together!

Biscotti always makes the day brighter and with orange zest in this recipe, these cookies are that much cheerier!  So "Put on a Happy Face" with Dick Van Dyke!

BISCOTTI

12 tablespoons Land O'Lakes butter

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 teaspoons dried lemon or orange peel OR 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon or orange peel zest

½ cup macadamia nuts

½ cup slivered almonds

4 cups flour

3 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray baking sheet with Pam.  Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on high speed. Add vanilla and lemon or orange peel.  Add eggs one at a time while mixer is beating the batter.
3. Separately, put macadamia nuts and slivered almonds in the food processor.  Using the pulse button, process the nuts until they are small pieces.  Do not let nuts get mealy or pasty.  Add processed macadamia nuts and slivered almonds to batter and mix thoroughly.
4. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to batter and mix.
5. If dough is too soft to handle, refrigerate it for an hour.
6. Scoop out about 1 ½ cups batter with a large spoon and drop onto baking sheet as if drizzling it even though it won’t drizzle.  Shape into an 8-inch long log that is about 1 ½ inches across and 1 inch high.  Keep about four inches between logs because they will spread and flatten.  
7. Bake for 21 minutes.  Remove from oven.
8. Slide a thin metal spatula under logs to loosen them from the pan.  Allow to cool for 4 minutes and gently lift one log at a time with a large metal spatula and your hand putting it on a large cutting board.  Try to make sure it does not break apart.  With a bread knife, cut at 45 degrees each loaf into 1/2-inch thick diagonal slices.  Put slices cut side down back on the original baking sheet.
9. Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn each piece over so that the other cut side can brown.
10. Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes so they dry out.
11. If you like very hard biscotti, you can bake the first cut side longer for 7 minutes.  If you like softer biscotti, bake each side for only 4 minutes.