Coffee is coffee is coffee. Or is it? I must say that I was NOT in the biscott-lovers boat as of even a few months ago, but once I changed my mind, coffee hasn’t been the same since. We can all agree that unless you are eating toast, dry is a terrible thing for bready foods. And that’s how I have judged you all these years, biscotti. A few weeks ago, I visited my fabulous artist grandma in Florida and spent way too long hanging out next to the biscotti tin. Maybe I’ve only tried boxed biscotti all these years, but my first taste of homemade chocolate-dipped biscotti changed my mind!

They ended up being fantastic on their own but seriously are they better with coffee or is coffee better with them?!?! I CANNOT tell. Sometimes I feel that way about my best friends. Do we become better people from knowing the other person or is it the friendship that makes us better people? All I know is I’m never looking back. While I was stuck inside during Atlanta’s 1inchsnowstormofthedecade, biscotti got me through! I started from the Cooks Illustrated Almond Orange Biscotti, a version of this recipe but hello, almonds are always better with chocolate chips!!

Chocolate chip Almond Biscotti

makes around 35 little biscotti cookies

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 TBS softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 cup toasted whole almonds

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Set oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Then add eggs one at a time, adding both extracts. This is the best part, it smells so yummy!

3. Chop up those almonds after toasting them for a few minutes either in a dry saute pan or the toaster oven.

4. Add the dry into the wet and mix until a cookie-like batter forms. Dump in your almonds and choco-chips until evenly distributed. Skilled at Play-dough formations? It’s your time to shine next.

5. Cut the dough in half and starting with the first, shape it into a 13 by 2 inch loaf. This recipe is sort of mini biscotti so if you wanted to make those really long ones, I would use the whole batch to make one large loaf. If the dough gets a bit too sticky, add some flour and continue shaping. Do the same with the second half of batter, and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and crackly.

6. After the first lil bake sesh is over, slide the logs over to a cutting board and slice on a bias with a serrated knife. Then place the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for another 15 minutes, flipping them over halfway through baking.

Serve with a hot cup of coffee and never break up this friendship!!!