When I first started making biscotti, it was during the days when I was a glutton for gluten and my only goal was to create what I thought would be the perfect biscotti. It’d be the kind that when I bite into one, I didn’t think I’d break my teeth and there wasn’t a spice or a flavor that over powered the rest of my day. I wanted a balanced cookie with a crunch, crumb and full bodied, ever buttery combination of flavors to carry you through from the first bite to the last. It should be dunkable in a cuppa joe, if that’s your thing. It could be a spoon for gelato or sorbet, if that’s your thing. It should pair nicely with a cuppa tea - black, green, white, whatever you please. It took several tries and combinations of flavors to master what I thought was what I wanted in a biscotti bite. Then one day, the no gluten thing happened. Back to the drawing board with the biscotti. Several tries and combinations of flours, eggs and fat later, I’ve learned the last batch was just fine, but my newest batch is almost always better. I love these with black coffee, a naturally sweet black or white tea, a cuppa hot chocolate and bowls of vanilla bean ice cream or raspberry sorbet.

These ones are for my friend, A.J. who is living his best life on the best coast aka Cali. He loves everything chocolate and I love A.J. I hope these please him as much as they please me.