Almond Lemon & Anise Biscotti

Ingredients

2 eggs (room temperature)

¾ cup of granulated sugar

½ cup of canola oil

Grated lemon zest from one large lemon

1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons of crushed anise seeds

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup of slivered almonds (chopped)

2 cups of all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, and the sugar. Now add the canola oil to the bowl and whisk again.   Add the lemon zest, the baking powder, crushed anise seeds, vanilla extract, and salt and lightly whisk again.  Add the chopped almonds and mix with a spoon to get the nuts wet. Add the flour and mix with spoon until all the flour is incorporated. Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough about ten turns (it does not require a lot of kneading). You are really just compacting the dough as if you are making a snowball. Divide the dough in half. 

Shape each half into a log and place on an ungreased cookie sheet spacing them apart from each other. I shape the logs like the picture below with the log being about 8 ½ to 9 inches long and between 2 to 3 inches wide. By shaping the log this way it facilitates cutting the cookies on a diagonal without causing too much waste.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Carefully remove the logs from the cookie sheet and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Leave the oven set at 350 degrees.

 Carefully transfer the logs to a work surface and using a serrated knife cut into ½ inch slices. Place the cookies back on the cookie sheet with the cut side down. Return the cookie sheet to the oven and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes until brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Once the cookies are cooled they can be placed in a zip lock bag and stored in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for at least two weeks.