Biscotti Toscani

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, sugar and anise flavoring. Beat eggs and hazelnuts into the above mixture. (Note: if you use a highpowered mixer for chopping nuts, do by hand at end; they tend to get too fine otherwise.) Add flour, baking powder and salt.

On a floured surface, knead gently until smooth. Divide dough intothree equal pieces and shape into a roll just under the length of a cookie baking sheet. Roll the roll into sesame seeds to coat it (optional). Place each roll on a cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, cool and then slice roll cross wise into about 3/4 in diagonal slices. Toast about 10 minutes on each side.

Note: My fiends have done variations whereby they've 1/2 cup of flour with sifted cocoa. And have sometimes added chocolate chips. It's a recipe you can play around with. Also, egg substitute seems to work well. COOL COMPLETELY before storing; they keep almost indefinitely in an airtight container.



/COOKIES