Almond Aniseed Biscotti

I really, really love these, but the ones you find in Turkey are really gross. I decided to make my own, and they were, as Borat would say, great success! They taste very similar to Nonni's, but of course a little fresher.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 stick (I used 125 g., which is slightly more) butter, room temperature or thereabouts
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. almond extract
zest of 1 orange
2 tsp. aniseed
Less than 1 T. baking powder
1 large pinch salt
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup unsalted toasted almonds, roughly chopped
1 egg white


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius

2. Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs, vanilla, almond extract, orange zest, aniseed, salt, and baking powder

3. Add in flour one cup at a time, and on the last half cup add until a nice dough (not too tough, sticky but not too sticky) forms; stir in almonds.

4. Divide dough into 2 and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With your hands, pat them down into 1/2 inch high rectangles; brush with egg white.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes; top should be golden and fully-baked looking but not yet getting hard

6. Keeping the oven on, pull loaves out to cool for 10-15 minutes
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7. Cut the loaves into 3/4 inch wide cookies, and place them back on the baking sheet in the same shape as the loaf but separated (if you saw the movie The Cell, which for your own sake I hope you did not, it's like when they sliced the horse into pieces and then separated it. Youtube it if you want. Or better yet, don't. You will probably lose your appetite.)

8. Bake it for another 20 minutes or so (if they look like they are getting too cooked but not yet hard, you can lower the oven's heat by half and leave it in for longer).

9. Place into an airtight container; they are best eaten the next day when they've had time to harden a little.