Indulge In {Chocolate Drizzled Almond Biscotti}

This weekend starts the holiday baking rush. With Christmas less than a week away, I'm planning out my grocery list to make sure I get everything I need to make a load of holiday treats. From red velvet cupcakes to sugar cookies and everything in between, the sweets that surround this holiday are some of my favorites. There is one non-traditional treat though that I just can't go without…biscotti. This traditional Italian cookie made to accompany decadent coffees is just perfect when enjoyed fireside with a warm beverage in hand. They are the perfect excuse to have cookies for breakfast and make coffee that much better. While you can put all sorts of stuff into biscotti like pistachios and cranberries, my favorite is the classic almond. I make mine with just a little twist though, I sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar before baking and finish it off with a drizzle of chocolate. Quite frankly, they are amazing and I'm going to share the recipe with you today. Here ya' go….

:: Ingredients ::
3 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Almond Extract
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Sliced Almonds
Melting Chocolate
1/2 Cup Cinnamon Sugar


:: Directions ::
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and like a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, mix the sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it's well combined. Mix in almonds.
4. Divide the dough in half. Put some flour on your hands and shape each half into a a 13 inch long x 3 inch wide x 1 1/2 inch thick log. Transfer both logs to the prepared baking sheet spacing about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle each log with cinnamon sugar.
5. Bake the logs 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Keep your oven on.
6. Transfer the cooled logs to a cutting board and cut into 1/2 wide slices. Arrange the slices on the same baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Turn the biscotti over and bake an additional 10-12 minutes until slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with melted chocolate. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Delightful Dining {Sweet Cinnamon Biscuits}

Hopefully, your mouth has already started watering. But, if it hasn't already, forewarning, it's about to. First, let me tell you what this actually is. This delectable treat you are feasting your eyes on is a sweet cinnamon biscuit topped with warm cinnamon apples. And holy moly if it is not the best damn biscuit you have ever had, then you have had some damn good biscuits. Well last week, Paula Deen informed me that September is national biscuit month and clearly that meant that a batch of biscuits were in my future (and yours!).  But, these ain't your momma's biscuits. Let me tell you what we have going on here...

For the biscuits...

{1} 2 1/4 C Bisquik mix

{2} 2/3 C plus a dash of milk (I used Vanilla Soy instead of regular)

{3} 1/2 C cinnamon sugar (I mixed my own. I would say the ratio is about 2:1 sugar to cinnamon.)

{Instructions} Preheat the oven to 450. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Place a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. You now have two options. You can either roll it out and cut with a cookie cutter, or you can do what I did. Make drop biscuits. Take a spoon and just dollop it on to the cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 

For the apples...

{1} 4 Granny Smith apples

{2} 1 C cinnamon sugar

{3} 1/3 C water

{Instructions} Peel, core, and cut your apples into bite sized pieces. Combine apples, cinnamon sugar, and water in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until apples are soft and sauce is thick. 

For assembly and enjoyment...

{1} Cut your biscuit in half

{2} Ladle cinnamon apple over the biscuit 

{3} Eat and enjoy!