Almond biscotti

Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder and a touch of salt together for about a minute.

Cream a touch of white sugar and some olive oil into room temperature unsalted butter with a spoon or spatula, until it lightens in colour and turns creamy.

Add the first egg and mix it in with the spoon.

Switch to a whisk, add the second egg with a little vanilla extract and a spoon of almond extract, and mix until beautifully combined.

Switch back to the wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients and stir just until the flour disappears; there is no way to over mix this.

Mix in the whole roasted almonds and an equal amount of roughly chopped almonds until evenly distributed.

Cover the dough in plastic and chill about 30 minutes until it firms up, since it is too sticky to shape otherwise.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half on plastic wrap into a loaf about three or four inches wide and an inch and a half high.

Use the plastic to transfer them onto a lined baking sheet, leaving three or four inches between them because they spread; flour the hands for a final shaping if wanted.

Bake in the centre of a 350 degree oven about 30 minutes, until the loaves are lightly golden.

Cool them on the pan about 15 minutes so they firm up and cut cleanly through the nuts.

Cut at a slight angle with a serrated knife into pieces somewhere between a half and an inch.

Space the cookies back on the sheet pan, reduce the oven to 325 and bake about 12 minutes.

Flip each one over and bake about 20 minutes more, until golden and crunchy all the way through.

Transfer to a rack and cool completely.