Essential American Biscotti

Note from Cheri: The recipe and text below are reprinted with permission from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook (2004, The Countrymen Press). This book is an encyclopedic reference on the subject of cookies with recipes for just about any variety you can imagine. Click here to learn more about this must-have book for cookie lovers and for more great sample cookie recipes.

The cookies we know and love in America-the chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter and sugar cookies that line the shelves of the supermarket cookie section, and whose recipes and variations fill our cookbooks-are far removed from traditional Italian biscotti. The cookies most of us grew up with are softer, more tender, crunchier, and lighter. American-style biscotti, likewise, are lighter and more tender than their Italian counterpart. Though not particularly suited to dunking in coffee or wine, they're appreciated by kids, or anyone whose idea of a cookie runs more toward a delicate cutout gingerbread cookie than a teething biscuit.

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter 2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 2 large eggs 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

Yield: 14 to 16 Biscotti Baking temperature: 350°F, then 325°F Baking time: 50 minutes Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18 x 13-inch) baking sheet. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be quite soft and sticky, but should hold its shape when you drop it from a spoon. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, and shape it into a rough log about 14 inches long. It will be about 2 1/2 inches wide, and about 3/4-inch thick. Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you're doing in the kitchen. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the log, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Wait another 5 minutes, then slice the biscotti in 1/2- to 3/4-inch slices. How thick you slice them depends on a number of factors. This recipe, without nuts or any add-ins, is easy to slice thin; once you start adding chips, almonds, raisins, and other chunky ingredients, a 3/4-inch slice becomes more realistic. When you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut at an angle, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake. Set the biscotti, on edge, on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 25 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool. Once they're cool, store airtight, to preserve their texture. If biscotti aren't as crunchy as you'd like (and the weather is dry), store them uncovered, overnight, to continue drying. Biscotti can be stored at room temperature for one week; for longer storage, wrap airtight and freeze.