If there is a heaven – and I get there – I’ll be the baker.
As a child, baking was part of many delightful moments, which multiplied at Christmas time. It was always exciting to come home to the aroma – and taste – of just-baked cookies. Now, by the time I arrived in the world (the youngest of four) my mom had abandoned baking from scratch, and I accepted as truth that cookies and cakes came exclusively from the Pillsbury dough boy, Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.
But in my final year of high school I lived with my sister, Connie, and she baked – muffins, cookies, bread, pizza dough – everything. I was mesmerized. To me this was as magic as Tinker Bell and Mary Poppins . . . and it still is. From the moment I held my first electric hand mixer in my very own kitchen, baking has been one of my great joys. And while I’m grateful to my sister for many, many things, baking is one of the very best gifts she’s ever given to me.
Why am I sharing this with you? Because in 2006, when The Phone Lady was celebrating its first Christmas, I chose to give my clients baking in the form of my homemade Cranberry Almond biscotti. (Biscotti simply means “twice baked” in Italian.) The reaction was – and continues to be – the same one I feel when I bake – joy. And I can’t deny that they are very yummy!
Over the years many of you have asked for the recipe. So in the spirit of joy that is Christmas, here in words and pictures, is the biscotti recipe. I send it out to you with a wish for a holiday filled with what you love best and aNew Year that delivers dreams come true.
Cranberry Almond Biscotti
Ingredients for single recipe
3/4 cup butter; 1 cup white sugar; 2 eggs; 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon; 3/4 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup ground almonds; 1/4 cup dried cranberries













Lovely pictures and directions. Thanks for the step by step recipe! They look so yummy.
My mouth is watering.
I for one cannot wait to dip my coffee with your biscotti. Merry Christmas and all the Best in 2013.
Yummy, and it tastes sooo good! Thanks MJ for sharing this tradition.
Thanks MJ for sharing your recipe. The biscotti was AMAZING! I think I ate mine all in 2 days (blush) but it was just soooooo good. You certainly are a lady with many talents!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Awesome, Mary Jane – now I know the magic behind the morsels! They were defintely delicious!!
I love that you shared the pictures along with the recipe – it looks very doable and inspiring to give it a try. Cheers!
Very nice Mary Jane, thank you for sharing the recipe I’ve had the good forture to receive from you — yum! And thanks especially for your support of Red Bear Healing Home Society. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for sharing your story and the recipe. I too lived with my sister my last year of high school and I too LOVE to bake. Can’t wait to try the recipe and share (maybe!) with others.
Hope you have a lovely holiday.