Cappuccino Biscotti

I love making biscotti around the holidays. Because they are naturally drier, crunchy cookies, they tend to last much longer than some softer cookies, which make them good for shipping or just keeping around for more visitors. The spices and toasted pecans in this recipe pair wonderfully with a cup of coffee, latte or hot chocolate. The toffee adds a sweet punch - if you want to decrease the sweetness of these, use less toffee. For another variation, see my recipe from last year for  Cherry Almond Biscotti.


RECIPE: Cappuccino Biscotti
Makes about 40 cookies.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground nugmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/3 cup toffee pieces

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet, or cover with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Place egg and egg yolk in the well and stir into flour mixture. Add melted butter and coffee liqueur and stir until dough starts to form a ball. Stir in pecans and toffee pieces.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Shape each portion into a 9-inch-long loaf. Place loaves about 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet; flatten loaves slightly to about 2 inches wide.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm and light brown. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Transfer baked loaves to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices flat side down on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn slices over and bake about 10 minutes more, or until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to wire racks, let cool.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or freeze for up to 3 months.