Lemon Almond Biscotti by Mrs. Cindy

[BakerAunt]

Lemon Almond Biscotti
From KAF catalogue, July, 2013

Dough:
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
grated rind of 1 medium lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
3/4 - 2 teaspoons almond extract, or more to taste* almost full tablespoon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice powder from KAF
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Slivered almonds for garnishing top of loaf before baking
*3/4 teaspoon will give you the merest hint of almond. If you like the almond flavor, use a greater amount of extract. I typically use almost a full tablespoon. If you sprinkle the top with slivered almonds, you want the almond flavor strong enough so you can taste it.

Glaze (optional)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners' or glazing sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice powder from KAF
2 to 3 teaspoons milk or more as necessary

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, lemon rind, almond extract, lemon juice powder and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the lemon juice and eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.

Plop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a bowl scraper. Shape it into a log that’s about 13" long x 3" wide x 3⁄4" thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides and square off the ends; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here. Sprinkle the top of the unbaked loaf with slivered almonds, patting the almonds so they stick to the loaf.

Bake the dough for 25-30 minutes. Make sure the top inside center of the loaf is done. Check temp on side and then in top center with instant read thermometer. The temperature should be the same, 210°F. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes; just work it into the schedule of whatever else you’re doing in the kitchen. Reduce the oven heat to 300°F.
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.

Wait another 5-7 minutes (this wait time is very important to allow for nice, even slices) then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1⁄2" slices. As you’re slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, 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 30 to 35 minutes, till they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden around the edges. Leave biscotti in the oven. turn the oven off and prop the door open very slightly! After 1/2 hour, remove the biscotti from the oven, and allow them to cool on the baking sheet.

Yield: about 2 dozen biscotti.

For glazed biscotti: Combine the confectioners’ or glazing sugar with the lemon juice powder and milk; drizzle over cooled biscotti. I left the biscotti standing on the cookie sheet and drizzled the glaze over the standing biscotti. Very pretty.

Cindy's Note: This is the revised recipe. Please note; one of the ingredients is KAF's Lemon Juice Powder. This is an extremely important ingredient in this recipe and a necessity for it to work correctly. If you don't have any, order it now. I love this stuff and use it all the time! Ria, you can cut these as thin as you want. Just be sure they will stand up without toppling over and adjust the second baking time so they don't burn or over crisp. Enjoy!.

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