Fill your basket

I have been making homemade treats to fill my family's Easter baskets for a long time.  My goodies have become a staple of every Davis holiday - making it into nearly every Christmas stocking, Valentine's Day bag and Easter basket.  This Easter is no exception.  I used to be quite secretive about my homemade treats but becoming a food blogger has hindered my ability to surprise my family with my homemade creations.   Even though there's less of an element of surprise, no one has expressed any disappointment over receiving "blogged" treats.  Just in case you need to catch up on some of my Easter basket fillers for this year, this is what I'll be tucking into my family's baskets tonight:

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers and Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Beautifully decorated sugar cookies.

Brownie Pop Chicks




















Chocolate Covered Rice Crispy Treat Carrots











and last but certainly not least ... dark chocolate dipped almond biscotti.
 

I took my cue for this recipe from that jar of coffee shop biscotti that always looks so irresistible sitting on the counter next to the register.  I can't tell you how many times I've bought one of those delectable looking, chocolate drizzled cookies only to be extremely disappointed in both the taste and the texture.  This is one of my very favorite biscotti recipes and it wasn't until my most recent trip to the coffee shop that I figured out how to make it even better - dip the bottom in creamy dark chocolate and add a drizzle to the top.   Voila! - biscotti that looks just as good as coffee shop biscotti but tastes a thousand times better.   

Crisp Almond Biscotti
1 ¾ cups flour                   
1 cup whole almonds
1 cup sugar               
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder           
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon salt

 

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl.













Place almonds in food processor and pulse into course crumbs.













 Stir into flour mixture.














Combine eggs and extract.  Add egg mixture to flour.  (Dough will be crumbly.)









Turn out on to floured surface and knead 7-8 times.  Divide dough into 3 equal portions and shape each into a 6” log.  Place rolls 6” apart on baking sheet and pat to 1” thickness.

 

Bake 25 minutes at 375.

 

Cool for 5 minutes.  Cut each roll crosswise into 12 slices and stand upright on baking sheet.

 

Bake 14 minutes.  Cool.

I decided to dress up my biscotti for Easter so I brought out the finest dark chocolate that I had in the pantry to adorn this crunchy little cookies.

I melted the chocolate in a shallow dish so that I could dip the bottoms in the bittersweet chocolate. 

I dipped the bottom of each biscotti into the melted chocolate and then put them on waxed paper to dry. 

I drizzled the leftover chocolate over the tops of the cookies.  

I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning to sit down and enjoy my dark chocolate dipped almond biscotti with a steaming cup of hot tea.  Ahhh ... I can smell the sweet aroma of biscotti and tea already. 

Check out my other biscotti recipes too. 
Cherry Almond Biscotti

Toffee Crunch Biscotti

Banana Biscotti

Ciao!


Crisp Almond Biscotti
1 ¾ cups flour                   
1 cup whole almonds
1 cup sugar               
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder           
½ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl.  Place almonds in food processor and pulse into course crumbs.  Stir into flour mixture.  Combine eggs and extract.  Add egg mixture to flour.  Turn out on to floured surface and knead 7-8 times.  Divide dough into 3 equal portions and shape each into a 6” log.  Place rolls 6” apart on baking sheet and pat to 1” thickness.  Bake 25 minutes at 375.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Cut each roll crosswise into 12 slices and stand upright on baking sheet.  Bake 14 minutes.  Cool.