Ingredients
1-1/2 cups sliced almonds, toasted and divided
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
1/2 cup white chocolate chips optional
2 teaspoons shortening optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place 3/4 cup of toasted almonds in a food processor and pulse until ground.
Beat butter in large bowl for 30 seconds, then add sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat until combined.
Beat in eggs and almond extract.
Beat in as much of the flour as you can with mixer.
By hand, stir in remaining flour, the ground almonds and the remaining 3/4 cup of sliced almonds.
On pieces of wax paper, shape dough into two 14 inch long rolls.
Place rolls on prepared cookie sheet at least 5 inches apart, flatten slightly.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near centers comes out clean.
Cool on cookie sheet for 1 hour.
Cut each roll diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Place slices, cut sides down, on ungreased cookie sheets (or cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper).
Bake 8 minutes.
Turn slices; bake 7 to 9 minutes more or until cookies are dry and begin to crisp (do not overbake).
Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks.
Cool completely.
If desired, to make glaze or drizzle, place semi sweet chips and white chips in separate small microwave safe bowls.
Add 1 teaspoon of shortening to each bowl.
Microwave on high for 45 seconds, stirring once; stir. If necessary, microwave an additional 15 seconds or until chips are melted and mixtures are smooth when stirred.
Dip biscotti into mixtures or drizzle over tops.
Original Post On Cinnamon and Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder.
For country-store owner Robbie Jordan, the National Maple Syrup Festival is a sweet escape from late-winter in South Lick, Indiana—until murder saps the life out of the celebration . . .
As Robbie arranges a breakfast-themed cook-off at Pans ‘N Pancakes, visitors pour into Brown County for the annual maple extravaganza. Unfortunately, that includes Professor Connolly, a know-it-all academic from Boston who makes enemies everywhere he goes—and this time, bad manners prove deadly. Soon after clashing with several scientists at a maple tree panel, the professor is found dead outside a sugar shack, stabbed to death by a local restaurateur’s knife. When an innocent woman gets dragged into the investigation and a biologist mysteriously disappears, Robbie drops her winning maple biscuits to search for answers. But can she help police crack the case before another victim is caught in a sticky situation with a killer?
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