With your coffee....

My wife has to have something to nosh on with her morning coffee.
We usually will buy some conchas, and I started buying the orejas, for myself.

The orejas just seem a little lighter, nothing to do with the butter in between all those layers of pastry....Ok, they are only a 1/4 of an inch thick so they have to be less fattening than those big conchas.

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about a concha is a Mexican sweetbread made to look like a sea shell, usually enough for about two days worth of coffee. The orejas is a puff pastry which is some times called elephant ears or Palmiers

Well, anyway back to the story here, Lots of times the bakeries do not have fresh conchas or orejas so I started making the Italian Biscotti. They last almost forever and are great for trips on the road. If you buy your coffee at a Starbucks, Biscotti are usually about $1.50 each....unless you get the one dipped in chocolate, those are 2 bucks.

I love them, since they can be made pretty easy, you can add health thing into them like almonds, or other nuts, plus raisins, and the zest of lemons or oranges.
Here is a easy recipe for my orange almond Biscotti. I usually make a double batch, the photos are of a double batch. They are also called twice baked and some people dip them in their coffee sometimes.....

Orange zest Almond Biscotti.

Preheat your oven to 350.
Take the almonds and toss on a cookie sheet and toast them for about 10 minutes, let cool, set aside.
In a large bowl put in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix to incorporate.

In a smaller bowl, mix the sugar and melted butter until smooth, then toss in the eggs, ( out of their shell) add the almond and vanilla extra, mix. ( You can use an electric hand mixer to froth up the mixture if you like)

Now add the wet to the dry bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until all mixed. You might, just might have to add a little water or milk if your flour is real dry. No more than about 2 TBS of liquid.

Add the almonds then flour your hands and work surface. Mix and knead the mix until it is one whole glob.
It should hold together but almost crumbly. Not like bread or cake dough.
Divide the glob into two parts. Shape it into a 12 inch long by 1 1/2inch log. put on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and once on the sheet push down a tad so it is about 1/2 inch high.

Slide it in the oven
In about 15 minute it should be starting to be gold brown. Remove and lit sit for about 2 minutes.
Take a serrated bread knife and slice into 1/2 inch diagonal pieces, separate on the cookie sheet and put it back in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and prop open the oven door about 2 or 3 inches so they will cool slowly.
When totally cool, put in a zip lock bag and they will last about 3 weeks or until scarfed up!

If you double click on the photo you can see the strands of Orange zest in each cookie.

Enjoy.

Stuff you will knead.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almonds, roasted, not salted
1 cup sugar
4 TBS butter melted or softened
2 eggs beaten with 1 tbs of water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest from a large orange or two small ones, chopped medium
2 -3 TBS milk, enough to moisten dough