Biscotti

Directions

1. 1
   Put 2 1/4 cups of the flour with the sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, and blend well.
2. 2
   Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, just enough to blend yolks and whites, and then set aside 1 tablespoon for the final glazing.
3. 3
   Pour the remaining eggs and the vanilla into the dry ingredients, and mix until the dough comes together.
4. 4
   If it seems too wet to pick up and knead, add a little more flour; if it seems too dry, sprinkle a little water onto the dry spots.
5. 5
   Knead a few turns with floured hands.
6. 6
   Now grate the peel of the orange (I use the coarse holes of a box grater, because I like larger pieces of orange than fine grating gives).
7. 7
   Chop the nuts into coarse pieces, and knead them into the dough along with the grated orange to distribute evenly.
8. 8
   Divide the dough in half, and form two logs approximately 10 inches long.
9. 9
   Put them on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet, several inches apart, and paint the sides and tops with the reserved egg glaze.
10. 10
    Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes.
11. 11
    Turn the oven down to 300, and remove the two pieces to cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
12. 12
    When they have cooled, use a serrated bread knife to cut diagonal slices a little more than 1/2 inch thick, and lay them out flat on a large cookie sheet.
13. 13
    Return them to the oven for 15 minutes.
14. 14
    Remove, and cool on a rack thoroughly before storing in a large cookie tin.
15. 15
    You can use different nuts and raisins in the dough, as well as grated lemon, or make chocolate dough, adding 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips to the dough and working in some broken-up chocolate.