Christmas Cookie Tutorial - Grandmas Italian Biscotti

My first ever Christmas cookie tutorial was for the Italian Fig Cookies and I realize it is probably not for everyone. Kinda hard to want to make a cookie that is expensive, messy and takes a lot of time without really tasting them first. They ARE fabulous and I have been eating them right out of the freezer ever since I posted it, but I understand.



So, this recipe gets so many rave reviews and I have made them thousands of times, that I decided I would share it also. I just made a batch for a girlfriend who loves them and she just lost her mother....I took them to her at the funeral service today. Her face lit up.


Whenever there is an event that needs homemade baked goods everyone looks at me....I in turn say "yes, I'll make the biscotti!" I made a batch for another girlfriend who lost her son and she laughed and then she cried. Last year I was facing hip surgery and was not physically able to stand in the kitchen and make any Christmas cookies. When my pastor found out he was so disappointed, because he is probably my number one fan of these cookies and always so appreciative and complimentary. I felt so bad that I went home and made a batch just for him and gave them to him with a jar of my homemade strawberry jam. He was a happy Pastor! He tells me that every time I make them they just get better and better (he knows just what to say, doesn't he?!)



Here it is then, easier than the fig cookies and unlike the ones in the glass jar on the counter in the coffee shop, which are hard as rocks, you have to dunk them in your coffee to be able to bite into them and they taste just okay......

Put the following in an electric mixer and mix.....

6 eggs
5 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Grated orange or lemon peel (about 1/2 of the outside of the orange or lemon)

Overflowing cup of sugar

************************** 

Add ½ pound (2 sticks) melted butter

5 – 5 ½ cups flour

Mix till the dough looks like this.....

If the dough sticks to your fingers, just add more flour. It should be pliable and not sticky.

Form the dough on an ungreased baking pan into 4 -  2” wide x ¾” tall, by 14” long logs. I really did measure these at first because it insures they all fit on my pan!

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. They will come out all puffed up and golden....leave the oven ON

Let cool. They tend to meld together on the pan so just take a spatula and separate them and loosen them from the pan. Be careful not to break or split each log....they will be cut on the diagonal next.

Slice on the diagonal and then rebake for 10 minutes.

Drizzle the top with my all purpose, wonderful frosting with either lemon extract or anise extract added and yum....the finished product!
                                                                                                   2 2/3 cups confectionary sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon flavoring (almond, lemon, anise), optional

Hot water

Combine all ingredients except water. Slowly add a little hot water till frosting is smooth.