Spicy Biscotti for a Spicy Gal

My friend Val is awesome. How awesome is she? Well...let me tell you...

1) We survived grad school together...in INDIANA. East coast Jewish ladies don't belong in Indiana. She would buy me vanilla lattes with her on-campus dining points and always made me smile. She was a year ahead of me and gave great "survive this program" advice

2) She introduced me to the amazing world of kick-ass college a capella

3) I loved visiting her apartment b/c it was always decorated in the most amazing way - colorful, Broadway inspired and oh-so-cheerful

4) She doesn't take it personally when I say "DUKE SUCKS!" b/c even though she works there, she knows I still love her

5) She designed this blog like a trillion months ago and let me pay her in cookies

So...I have finally gotten my pregnant butt in gear and baked her cookies. They will be shipped off to North Carolina, where she and her very bakingly-talented fiance Matt will enjoy them. Val and Matt try to eat healthy, so she requested some Weight Watcher friendly treats. No problem! I knew that the mini-chocolate chip cookies would be a winner, and I thought about making meringues. Turns out, though, that meringues are not a shipping friendly cookie. Those things will turn to sugary dust if you look at them wrong. Hearty biscotti it was, then!

This recipe came from a random internet search and I was a little skeptical of the spice amounts. I tweaked them based on my experiences and I'm very happy with the results (I ate the end pieces and saved them the rest!). I did make a few changes to the baking time, since I think it needed some help in that area. But overall, these spiced biscotti are delicious! They would be great with a cup of tea or coffee...or even dunked in a glass of milk.

Weight Watchers Spiced Biscotti (2 points each)

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cloves (changed to 1tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg)
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Cooking spray (or silicone baking mats)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at low speed of a mixer for 1 minute. Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl; gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating until well-blended (dough will be soft).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; shape dough into 3 (6 x 4-inch) rectangles. Place rectangles on a baking sheet covered with cooking spray; flatten to 3/4 inch thickness. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. Remove rectangles from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.
*note - mine were still raw in the middle after 25 minutes, perhaps b/c I made them thicker than 3/4 inch. If you make them larger, increase baking time to about 30-35 minutes*

Cut each rectangle diagonally into (3/4 inch) slices. If they are still raw in the center, reduce oven heat to 250, line them back up on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes at the low heat.