Recipe: Sweet and Salty Biscotti

I love making biscotti. They're really simple to bake, they're hard to mess up, and they last for ages. Homemade biscotti tend to have a smoother texture than store bought ones, which can be quite coarse and sandpapery on the outside. These are an adaptation of Tyler Florence's recipe for pistachio biscotti. The basic recipe is pretty well the same for any kind; you just change the add-ins. Some combinations that go particularly well together are dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, dark chocolate and hazelnuts, and pecans and toffee bits. This time, I decided that I wanted to make something that had a nice contrast between sweet and salty, so as my add-in, I used a very salty mixture of peanuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, and almonds. The effect is something like those sweet and salty granola bars, and I love the contrast between the sweet of the dough and the salty of the nuts. Great dunked in a cup of coffee.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
  
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups salted mixed nuts
  

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Whip butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs, sugar and vanilla.
  
• Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. This is easiest with your hands.
  
• Incorporate nuts until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  
• Divide the dough into two. Shape each ball into a long rectangle about 2 1/2" wide and 1" high. Square off the ends as best you can.
  
• Bake each log at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, or until the bottom of the log is lightly golden brown.
  
• Cut each log into cookies about 1" thick. Each log should yield about 12.
  
• Place the cookies back on the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
• Turn cookies over and bake for another five minutes.
• Cool completely and store in an airtight container.