Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti

Biscotti have definitely gotten a bad reputation.  They're dry and hard, much as I imagined hardtack might be (during a period when I read many, many historical fiction books that involved the eating of hardtack).  At best, they're a second thought, just something to dip in your coffee, tea, or latte.

I empathize with this view.  Now that I sell biscotti, I have seen where these delightful cookies can go wrong.  But when they go right, they certainly don't play second fiddle.  Take these biscotti, for example.  The bright, spicy cinnamon.  The subtle, playful sugar.  The crunch.  The butter.  The crumbs that you use your fingers to pick from your plate.  These biscotti are pure childhood memory.

Cinnamon and sugar may be the best combination of flavors ever created.  This coming from someone who practically worships the marriage of peanut butter and chocolate.  But cinnamon and sugar is primal.  Who didn't enjoy a slice of bread, spread thickly with butter, topped with cinnamon and sugar, and toasted to perfection as a child?  The instant gratification of carbs and fat and that kick of spicy cinnamon makes me want to curl up in the rocking chair by the stove in my parents' living room.  Cinnamon and sugar is like being home.

And these biscotti recreate that feeling perfectly.  They manage to retain the buttery satisfaction of that toast, the lingering sensation of cinnamon and sugar on your tongue.  I've made some pretty good biscotti in my day, but these just might be my favorite.  And even though they don't need it, dip them in a good cup of coffee, and you've got yourself a nice afternoon.

Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti
Makes 20

2 c flour
3 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 sugar
6 T butter, softened
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Sift flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, an salt together.  Set aside.  Also mix together the remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.  This will be the topping.  Set aside.

Beat butter and remaining cup sugar together until fluffy.  Add one egg and the egg yolk, and continue to beat.  Add the vanilla and combine.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture.  Bring all ingredients together to form a stiff dough.  Separate into two equal halves.

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form two logs.  They should be about nine inches by two inches.  Beat the remaining egg, brush over the logs, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar topping over everything.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Cut logs into cookies, and place back on baking sheet.  Bake for another twenty minutes.  Let cool.