By Nora
By now you're probaby either A) Freaking out that there's only 11 days left until Christmas; B) Sick of hearing about how there's only 11 days left until Christmas; or C) SO excited that there's only 11 days left until Christmas. Regardless of your answer, I imagine that in the next 11 days you have a lot of items left on your to-do list, and if one of them is baking cookies, then I have a suggestion to make your life 10 times easier. MAKE BISCOTTI.
Seriously, every time I make biscotti I am surprised at how easy it is, and how many cookies I get out of the effort, and how it makes me seem like such a baking professional when I deliver them to my cookie recipients. I made Sesame Orange biscotti the other day, and it took me about 3 minutes to mix the ingredients and then about an hour total to cook them (including a 10 minute in-between cooling process before you cut them). And then if you want to fancy them up, dip them in chocolate (white or dark!)! And if you want to get really crazy, after you dip them in chocolate, add some sprinkles! Or coconut! Or extra chocolate! (Sorry. There's 11 days left until Christmas. I'm a little loopy) I also once made Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (example in photo) which was cool because it had the red/green element that made them extra Christmas-y.
{Photo courtesy of Kitchenartistry.com}
But here's my recipe for Sesame Orange Biscotti. And it is legitimately MY recipe, because I used a basic biscotti formula and added the sesame and the orange zest myself.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine vanilla, eggs and orange zest and add to flour mixture, stirring until well-blended (dough will be dry).
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Shape dough into a 16-inch-long roll, and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top of the roll. Press lightly so they adhere. Put the roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or covered with parchment, and flatten roll to 1-inch thickness.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove roll from baking sheet to a wire rack, and let cool 10 minutes. Cut roll diagonally into 24 (1/2-inch) slices, and place, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325°, and bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over, and bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; let cool completely on wire rack.
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