Almond Butter Biscotti

It's February. Otherwise known as the longest and cruelest month. Look at our house! Memphis has had an unusual amount of snow this year. But, honestly, this winter hasn't been as bad for me as last winter, as far as that whole SAD thing goes. We've been making an effort to run (yes, run!) almost every night of the week, and I really think that has improved my mood 100%.

However, work has gotten really busy this past month; I put in 70 hours last week. 70 hours at work does not a good runner make, let me tell you. I fell off the wagon. While my husband dutifully suited up and took the dogs running in the cold each night, I was at work, bleary-eyed and tired from staring at my computer for 11+ hours. Eventually, everything came together and our team met our deadline, so when I arrived home one night last week (while it was still light outside!), I forced myself to run. It felt great.

But you're not here to read about that. You'd rather hear about what I baked after I ran. I baked biscotti. You see, a friend had me over for drinks the other night, and about half-way through the first bottle, she brought out almond butter and celery. The celery I couldn't have cared less about, but when you smear it with almond butter...now you're talking.

I thought about how I could incorporate almond butter into a recipe. And biscotti seemed to fit the bill. I took Mark Bittman's recipe and tweaked it a bit, replacing some of the butter with the almond butter, and used almond extract in place of vanilla.

Almond Butter Biscotti

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup almond butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2-1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt (I omitted this, since the almond butter was slightly salted)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cream together the butters and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each one.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt (if using). Gradually add this mixture to the butter mixture until incorporated.

3. Butter and flour two baking sheets. Divide your dough in half, and form each one into a 2" wide log. Place each one on its own baking sheet.

4. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the logs are golden and the top begins to crack slightly. Remove from oven, and reduce temperature to 250.

5. When the logs are cool enough to handle, slice each one on the diagonal into 1/2" wide strips, using a serrated knife. Place back on sheets and return to oven. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, turning once, until the biscotti are dried and golden.

6. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on the pan.

Hope you're staying warm! And P.S. Memphis is supposed to be mid-60's this entire week. Hallelujah.