Aileen's Tuscany Biscotti

These are delicious anise seed biscotti my mom's coworker makes. She says it takes 2.5 - 3 hours, but it is totally worth it!

Biscotti are great to dunk in coffee or tea, and are also great for parties or potlucks since you can make them ahead of time and they are super easy to serve.

Mix in bowl of standing mixer:
1 C butter, melted and cooled
1/4 C Franjelico (hazelnut liquer), or use 1 TB almond extract
3 tea vanilla extract
6 eggs
2 C sugar
3 C whole wheat pastry flour
2.5 C all purpose flour
3 tea baking powder

This will look pretty strange if you try to cream the butter and sugar, and then eggs first (a lot of liquids), so just dump it all in and mix.

Now add and mix by hand:
1/4 C anise seeds (or use 3/4 C chocolate chips instead)
2 C coarsely chopped toasted almonds

Divide dough into two parts. Spoon batter on two lightly greased baking sheets, forming logs about 3" by 15" by 1.25" high.

Bake one sheet at a time (refrigerate the other sheet) at 350 F for 35-40 minutes or until lightly brown and totally cooked.

After baking, lift off tray carefully (you can cut in half first to facilitate getting it off the pan).

Slice cookie bars with serrated knife into 1/2" slices on a cutting board. Return slices to tray and toast at 375 F for 10 minutes on EACH side.

Cool and store in airtight container. You can also dip in chocolate and crushed almonds for a fancy effect, but these are quite good all by themselves! You can also make a chocolate hazelnut biscotti and serve the two flavors together.