Birthday Biscotti Revisited

Two years ago this Tuesday, I posted a recipe for my favorite chocolate almond biscotti which were being shipped across the country as a birthday surprise. I dropped another batch of birthday biscotti at the post office this morning, with two new (and delicious) surprises.

1. The original recipe includes chopped almonds in the batter and sliced almonds on top. I swapped both for pistachios, my favorite for taste and color.

2. I used a vanilla salt that I made during the holidays, inspired by Joy the Baker's recipe (which I've included below).

Start with the original recipe, swapping whatever nuts and salts you choose.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Covering my friends and family with icing and crumbs on their birthday is one of my favorite joys. What to do then, when a dear friend moves 3,000 miles across the country and the postal service won't accept your bribe to deliver a cake with 25 lit candles to their doorstep? You make birthday biscotti, of course.

Happy birthday Kenny!

I'm not a coffee drinker (or espresso, cappuccino, etc.), but I love biscotti. Why? It's another excuse to eat a cookie. I was first introduced to this recipe by an old co-worker at a morning meeting. Let's just say we spent more time raving about his delicious biscotti than we spent talking about work.

My favorite thing about these biscotti, besides the chocolate chip cookie taste, is that you don't have to dunk them in hot coffee in order to take a bite. They are a bit softer than coffee shop biscotti, which makes a non-coffee drinker quite happy.