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Episode 3: When The Cookie Bakes Twice
(Biscotti)

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 350º.
Pour sugar into a bowl. Grate lemon zest over it. Rub zest into the sugar with your fingertips to flavor the sugar with the lemon zest’s oil.
Add the eggs and beat lightly until smooth.
Add flour, sprinkle baking powder over it and stir quickly until the batter is homogenous.
Stir the almonds into the dough.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Pour the dough onto it in one broad diagonal line.
Bake until golden brown and baked through, 25 to 30 minutes (test the loaf’s inner dryness with a wooden toothpick).
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool down for 10 minutes.
Flip the baked loaf onto a cutting board, remove the parchment paper in one swift move and replace it on the sheet pan. Carefully flip the loaf around again and cut it into thin strips.
Align the slices on the sheet pan and bake for a second time until dry and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Do not over-bake them, or they will turn bitter.
Store cooled biscotti in a tin box or plastic container lined with parchment paper. They will stay crisp for several weeks.

Flavor the dough with freshly grated orange peel, Vanilla bean seeds, or anise seeds.
Instead of almonds, use whole hazelnuts or hulled pumpkin seeds.
For chocolate biscotti, use only one cup of flour and add 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.