Recently I made a batch of biscotti to give out as holiday gifts. I’m a big fan of the gingersnap biscotti, but recently the snickerdoodle has been everyone’s favorite. So, I thought I would share the recipe.

Ingredients: Dough

2 Cups All purpose Flour (sift before using)

1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1 egg (at room temperature)

1 egg yolk (at room temperature)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping Mixture

1 large egg white

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. If you are using convection bake, drop by 25 degrees.
2. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside for later use.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the following: flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside for later use.
4. Using a stand mixture or an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until well blended.  Use a medium speed for a few minutes to mix until light and fluffy.
5. Add egg and egg yolk (reserve egg white for later use) to butter and sugar mixture, and beat well.
6. Mix in vanilla extract to butter and sugar mixture.
7. Take butter and sugar mixture, and fold into dry ingredients. Stir well, and dough may appear crumbly.
8. Flour a clean work area and put dough on the surface.
9. Shape dough into two logs roughly 8 inches long by 2 inches in diameter.
10. Brush logs with egg whites
11. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until dough is firm to touch.
12. Remove logs from oven and cool completely. Maintain oven temperature for a second round of baking.
13. After cool, slice logs at a diagonal.
14. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon topping.
15. Brush one side of the biscotti with egg whites, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon topping upon it.
16. Return biscotti to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cook completely. Biscotti will crisp up during second baking, as well as with with cooling. I prefer a slightly softer biscotti, so I often pull them out at 10 minutes, but if you want crisper biscotti give them the full 12 minutes.
17. Enjoy the biscotti!

I made a big batch of both kinds of biscotti, and gave them to neighbors, family friends and coworkers! They all loved the snickerdoodle biscotti far more than the gingersnap, but I love them both.

*My aunt and I baked a lot together when I was in high school. This recipe is a mixture of two base recipes: a snickerdoodle cookie recipe from Kicked Up Cookies and a gingersnap biscotti recipe from the Family Baker . Over the last ten years she and I have tweaked the ingredients and steps to make the recipe above. Snickerdoodles are a very popular cookie, so it wouldn’t surprise me if there are similar recipes out there on the internet.

Enjoy!

-S