Eastern European Jews call this twice-baked cookie mandelbrot, but every country has its version. Italians have biscotti, Brits and South Africans have rusks, and beschuits (zwiebacks) are popular in the Netherlands. This buttery recipe is perfect dunked in coffee.
Makes 30 twice-baked cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Preparation:
- Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, and add to creamed mixture. Stir in almonds.
- Place dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to make it easier to handle. Divide dough in half. Wet hands very lightly. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, form each dough half into a 3-inch-by-11-inch log. Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from oven. Increase temperature to 325 degrees.
- Using parchment, lift rectangles onto wire racks and cool completely. Place on cutting board and cut diagonally with serrated knife or ham slicer into 3/4-inch slices.
- Place pieces cut-side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Turn pieces over and bake 10 minutes longer. Cool completely on wire racks.
- Melt chocolate in microwave. Using a fork, drip semisweet chocolate diagonally over cookies. Using a fork, drip white chocolate in the opposite direction over cookies.
- When chocolate is completely dry, store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
