Recipe - easy Tuscan biscotti / cantuccini

Yesterday I was trying to think of a dessert to make for a dinner party for 9. I wanted something I could make in advance because the oven was going to be full of casserole. Plus two courses and several glasses of wine in, cooking doesn't seem like such a good idea. So I scoured a few blogs and came across this recipe from Bread and Companatico (my FAVOURITE recipe blog).

I love biscotti and they're perfect at dessert because you can dip them in your dessert wine or your coffee. Also, they last for up to a month so you could make a big batch and bring a few out every time you have people over for dinner. They'd also be delicious with glazed baked pears or peaches.

Ingredients: 
500g plain flour
350g caster sugar
250g unpeeled almonds (I used ready-sliced because I couldn't find whole ones)
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1.5 tsp baking powder
4 eggs + 1 for brushing
30 ml milk (a splash)
Icing sugar to serve (optional)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Combine your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (flour, sugar, lemon rind, almonds, baking powder).

Step 2: Mix in your eggs and milk. You might have to stir for quite a while before the mixture starts to resemble a dough. Add a splash more milk if it won't stick together at all, but be patient, it'll get there.

Step 3: Split the dough in two and form a rectangular slab on two baking trays covered with greaseproof paper. Brush the rectangles with the extra egg mixed with a little water.

Step 4: Bake for c.25 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn it down to 140 degrees. Transfer the rectangles, baking paper and all, to a chopping board and cut horizontally into biscuit-shaped slices. If the mixture is still too runny to cut cleanly, put it back in for a few more minutes.

Step 5: Put back in the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the biscotti are turning golden brown and they stop looking soggy. Leave to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve!

Biscotti means "twice-baked", which is what gives them their delicious crunchiness. However, remember that biscuits keep cooking after you take them out of the oven, so it's easy to overcook them. They will harden up as they cool down; ideally you should end up with biscotti which have a hard crunch on the outside and a slightly chewier inside.