Christmas Cookie Week - Day 2

Orange, chocolate, hazelnut, all of those flavors scream holiday don't they? I think a great Christmas cookie is a biscotti, it isn't overly sweet, it is dunkable in your coffee or hot chocolate and it is such a versatile cookie.

For these delectable dunkers, first gather together your ingredients.

You need: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 

4 tablespoons (1/2) stick butter, room temperature, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon orange extract, zest of 1 orange orange, 1/3 to 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. In your mixing bowl cream the butter and then add in the sugar and cream these two ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, vanilla, orange extract and zest and mix the ingredients together until they are smooth.

Now add in the dry ingredients, the flour, the baking powder and salt.

Dust the parchment paper with a lot of flour and split the dough into two portions on the parchment paper. Form a log with the dough about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Smooth out the logs.

Bake the logs for 30-35 minutes and halfway through the cooking, turn the pan so the logs are evenly cooked. Remove the logs when they are a light golden brown color and begin to crack on the top.

 Let the logs cool for 7-10 minutes and turn down the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

Use a serrated knife to cut the log into 3/8 inch sticks and rebake the sticks on a new sheet of parchment paper.

Bake them for 6 minutes and then flip them over to bake another 6 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven and let them cool on a rack.

Melt the 1/3 to 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, dip half of the biscotti into the chocolate, sprinkle or roll the chopped hazelnuts onto the chocolate and set them aside to cool.

Then serve, eat and enjoy!