"Baby" Biscotti

I love biscotti. It's such a simple recipe that it's hard for me to rationalize spending $5.99/pound for this "specialty" cookie that I grew up eating (a favorite among Italian grandmothers). However, the name alone should express that it takes a little work to make. Biscotti means twice-baked. So a traditional recipe calls for the cookie to be baked first in a log, cooled slightly, sliced on the angle into logs, and then rebaked. However, I barely have time to bake something once.

I discovered this Lisa Barnes recipe early on, when C was small, as a "first cookie" recipe. However, I never got around to making them because he fell hard for scones. Today, I realized that I hadn't made a weekend cookie, Downton Abbey would be on in a few hours, and I had nothing to dip into my tea and bring forth my British roots. I tweaked it a little bit. I added dried cherries and dried blueberries to this batch. Instead of logs, I simple dropped the cookies in rough tablespoons on the tray. If you are making this for the over one year crowd, make as written here. And feel free to change up the mix-ins. Like nuts? Add pistachios. Have other dried fruits on hand? Substitute at will. If you are making these as teethers for wee babies, leave out the dried fruit and consider a shape that allows a baby to gnaw without choking.

You need:

3 eggs
2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
3 c. flour
1/2 c. dried blueberries
1/2 c. dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on high until thick and fluffy, about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix flour and baking powder. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Add the dried fruit until just combined. Drop onto a baking sheet in rough tablespoons. Bake for 12 min. Turn off the oven and leave in the oven to cool for 3-4 hours. Store in an airtight container.