Michael Romano's Famous Biscotti

A few weeks back, Mike and I were lucky enough to be invited to an evening of baking at the Romano's house. The Romanos are great friends of our family, a fact that I am especially happy about as Michael Romano is one of the best cooks I know. People talk about his food in hushed tones and every dish he creates seems to be prefaced with the word "famous." Among my favorites are Michael's "famous" mustard dip and his vanilla cake, but his "famous" homemade pastas and wood-fired pizzas are nothing to sneeze at either. He just has a knack for making delicious, crowd-pleasing fare that also happens to rely on simple and readily-available ingredients.

Take this biscotti recipe, for example. It was the reason why we were invited over- so Michael could teach me the "right" way to make biscotti. Don't you love how Italians are equal parts opinionated and totally endearing at the same time? Although I do love my non-traditional biscotti, I was so excited to learn how to make his as well. His recipe is a traditional version of those crunchy Italian cookies, dotted with almonds and flavored with anisette. However, what you may not expect is the powdered French Vanilla Coffeemate. This is something you can get anywhere- probably even in your office breakroom- and really makes the recipe shine. He uses it in place of some of the sugar in many of his baking recipes, and although you'd never know it was there, it makes a difference!

If you make these yummy cookies, which I think you should, keep a few things in mind. First, Michael likes to roll the cookies into thin "pipes" instead of thicker logs. That way, when you slice them, the cookies are small and perfect alongside an espresso after a great meal. Second, the cooking time isn't as important as the look and feel of the cookies. After the first bake, the rolls of dough should be light golden brown, firm to the touch, and slightly crackled across the top. After the second set of bakes, the sliced cookies should be golden brown and crisp. Third, you really can't eat just one of these, so be careful!

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered french vanilla coffee creamer (not low-fat)

6 eggs

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup baking powder

1 cup chopped almonds

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. anisette

Mist bottle of vegetable oil

Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Cream together butter, sugar, and coffeemate.

-Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

-Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and almonds.

-Add dry ingredients to wet and blend together.

-Add the almond extract and anisette and mix until fully combined.

-Remove dough from bowl and divide into balls slightly larger than golf balls.

-On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into thin logs, slightly shorter than the sheet pan you will bake it on.

-Use a square of parchment paper to smooth out and round the logs.

-Place logs on a sheet pan lined with parchment.

-Mist tops of logs with oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of demerara sugar.

-Bake until light golden brown, about 20 minutes.

-Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes- until they are just cool enough to handle.

-On a cutting board, slice the logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.

-Lay the slices on their side on the sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes.

-Turn slices over and bake for a final 8 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.

-Remove biscotti from oven and cool.