“‘I know I’m not family, but Madeleine is my best friend. I love her like a sister. I flew halfway around the world, overnight, when she called. When I say she won’t be alone, I mean that. I will do anything and everything I can to help her adjust. I promise you that…’ Derrick set out a plate of his signature homemade orange hazelnut biscotti and poured Madeleine a scant half glass of wine. She breathed in the heady aroma and tasted the tiniest sip, intent on making her two ounce pour last as long as possible.”
~Excerpt from Carly Ellen Kramer’s food fiction novel, How to Bake a Chocolate Soufflé
Available at amazon.com in paperback and Kindle format.
Author signed copies (no extra charge) are also available right here at Crowded Earth Kitchen!
Recipe
Cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 3 egg yolks, and 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest. Add 3 cups flour, 1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well.
Shape dough into two rectangles, approximately 9×4 inches. Bake on a parchment lined pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
Cut rectangles on a slight diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices cut side down on a parchment lined pan and return to the 350 degree oven for another 15 minutes.
After biscotti have cooled, drizzle with an icing made from 1 cup powdered sugar and 2-3 tablespoons orange juice. Garnish with coarsely chopped hazelnuts.
Crowded Earth Kitchen 
Mmmm!
I can see an orange theme developing here! Have been meaning to make biscotti, and these look amazing!
It’s funny how tastes migrate through the season… I was on a pumpkin kick, and that’s giving way to cranberries and citrus right about now. This is a really reliable biscotti recipe – I hope you enjoy!
I tried making these and found they literally crumbled – I had to use the entire egg to make this workable. Tasted great, but just the yolks was not enough for mine.
The dough is quite stiff, but I haven’t had problems with crumbling before. Sometimes the moisture content in different batches of flour is enough to create small differences in the ratio of wet:dry ingredients. That’s a bit unusual, but happens. I’m glad it worked with the whole egg! 🙂