Almond Biscotti — Cooking with Friends (Issue #1)
Welcome to Cooking with Friends, a publication by myself (Christi Wilbert!) dedicated to food, friendship, and personal connection (and also design because most recipe design is hot trash.) Cooking with friends and family has always been something I loved, so now I’m taking my friendships, recipes, and memories and sharing them with all of you.
The main format of this publication will be a Zine (print & digital) but I will also be reformatting the content to share here in article form as well.
So let’s get to it. I present you with Issue #1: Almond Biscotti featuring my good pal, Alyssa Rotunno.
Meet Alyssa 👋
Alyssa Rotunno | New York | She/Her
Meet Alyssa — she’s a 24 year old public relations account executive living in New York. If there’s anyone out there who embodies the NY grind, it’s this girl here. She kicks ass at whatever she sets her mind to, wether it be setting up killer media pitches or crafting the perfect acai bowl. Alyssa is one of my oldest friends –dating back to the tenth grade, so I thought it would be fitting for her to help me kick things off. Alyssa grew up baking with her family, and her great grandmother was famous for her biscotti. Recently, she started making it herself to connect to her lost family recipe. Now, Alyssa is sharing her recipe with me so we can sip coffee on the porch, hang out with the neighborhood chickens, and enjoy biscotti together.
Let’s get cooking 👩🍳
Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs (room temperature) 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure almond extract 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1½ cups raw whole almonds
Optional:
Melting chocolate
To start,
Preheat oven to 350°
Whisk together: flour (2 cups), baking powder (1½ tsp) & salt (1 tsp.) Set aside until ready to use.
Melt butter (1/2 cup) and set aside to cool.
Combine eggs (2) & sugar (3/4 cup) in large bowl, using a spatula or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until the mixture is noticeably thicker and pale yellow in color, about 3–4 minutes.
Then, drizzle in cooled butter while mixing. Add in both the almond extract (2 tsp) & vanilla extract (1 tsp) and mix once more. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the almonds (1½ cups whole or crushed, up to your preference –we went with a combination of both.)
Next,
Divide the dough in half and scoop each half onto a baking sheet (line with parchment paper to avoid sticking.) Leave ample room (at least 3–4 inches) between them.
Dough will be wet and sticky. Using damp hands, form each dough mound into a rectangle about 3½” wide x 8½” long x 3/4” deep.
Bake for about 24–26 minutes, or until just golden in color.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°.
Working with one log at a time, use a large spatula to transfer to a cutting board. Using a large knife, slice across the short side into 8 equal pieces, about 1” thick. Repeat with the other log.
Finally,
Place cookies back onto the baking sheet and bake for an additional 18–20 minutes, just until the cookie feels firm in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Biscotti will harden slightly during cooling process.
Optional: Melt chocolate and drizzle over biscotti (dipping is also acceptable.) Let cool until chocolate is solid to touch.
Try this recipe with different toppings / flavors. Almonds swap easily for other nuts as well as the extract flavors. Enjoy!
Thank you for reading issue #1 of Cooking with Friends. May your biscotti be crisp and your coffee be warm. You can purchase a print or digital copy ( for $1! ) of Cooking with Friends here. Your support is greatly appreciated 🙂
📸 Find me on instagram as christi.design or christi.outside
📸 Find Alyssa on instagram as AlyssaRotunno & check out her new music publication Personal Shuffle.
