How to make
The almonds are blanched in hot water, peeled and cut into large pieces. You can work with a mixer.
In the bowl of the mixer mix: the sifted flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and almonds (into bulky pieces). Mix. The eggs (lightly beaten with a wire whisk), almond extract and vanilla are added to the dry mixture and mixed, until the dough becomes homogeneous.
The dough mixture is removed from the bowl, because it is quite soft and sticky and on a floured surface it is divided with the spatula to cut the dough into two equal parts. It can be measured in advance on a scale for greater accuracy.
Each part is formed into rolls, which are placed in a flat tray covered with baking paper about 7″ (18 cm) long and about 4″ (10 cm) wide, with a distance between them.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for about 35 minutes. Once ready, leave them to cool in the tray for about 10 minutes and then remove and place them onto a wire rack, until they have completely cooled.
On a board with a sharp and serrated knife cut slices, which are about 0.3″ (7 mm) thick and arrange them lying in a tray covered with paper and bake at 300°F (150°C) for another 15 minutes, then take them out and turn them quickly. Bake again for 15 minutes, so that the biscotti aquires a nice golden color and becomes crunchy. Cool them completely.
The baked pieces of biscotti are dipped at one end in chocolate and left on paper to cool completely.
Note: the dough is extremely sticky when prepared and you can help yourself with a wide dough spatula while working with it. You can work with a mixer or by hand. I worked with a mixer. The slices of biscotti are cut into about 1 cm wide pieces. If they are cut thinner, the biscotti breaks.
During the last baking in the oven, so that the cookies are crunchy, after I turned off the oven, I left them inside for another 7 minutes. Whether they are completely ready for baking is checked if they peel off slightly from the paper. Most of the time this dough is dried at these specified degrees.
The Italian Almond Biscotti are ready.
