Simple Spice Biscotti.

I always read before going to sleep at night.  It's a nice way to wind down at the end of a day and lately, I've been going through my old issues of Cook's Illustrated magazine.  I found this one in a Holiday Baking issue and I immediately wanted to make it - no butter, no oil - just flour, spices, eggs.  Could biscotti be this easy and taste good?  I trust Cook's Illustrated and so in less than an hour, I had these wonderfully spicy and flavorful cookies for dipping in coffee, tea and milk :)

I used cinnamon, ginger and cloves in these.  The original also called for some ground white or black pepper - I say use whatever spices make you happy and go for it.  Feel free to add raisins or dried cranberries as well as nuts.  This is a great base recipe for biscotti.

Cook's Illustrated Best Biscotti with Spices
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla together until it becomes lighter yellow in color.  Sprinkle the dry ingredients over and fold in just until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into 2 parts and shape each half into a 13'' long by 2'' wide rectangle.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the tops of the logs begin to crack.

Take the sheet out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.  Decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

After 10 minutes, transfer the logs to a cutting board and slice into 1/2'' thick slices diagonally. Place on the baking sheet, cut side up, and bake for 15 more minutes, flipping the biscotti over halfway though.

Let cool and enjoy :)