Cranberry, chocolate, coconut, orange, ginger biscotti

          I started baking biscotti for afternoon tea at the Inn for several reasons, the first being that it's hard, as in texturally. Welcome to summer on Cape Cod where the humidity is so high that linens perpetually feel damp, even extra super hold hair spray is no match for fly-away frizzies, and my car is actually growing moss, and it's not just because I drive slowly either (I do, for the record, I'm very cautious) but it is truly that damp. So just imagine what that kind of humidity does to the average cookie. It's not pretty. And it was getting embarrassing handing new guests their room keys and offering them some afternoon tea accompanied by a heap of what was once chocolate chip cookies but quickly became one amorphous blob, reverting back to batter form and molding itself to the plate in the moist, summer heat. I also started baking the biscotti because it looks fancy, and fancier than the chocolate chip blob, for sure.
          I assumed biscotti was difficult to make but it turns out it's really just about the time commitment (it's baked twice, and there is lots of in-between cooling time required). I will admit that during the first batch I did somehow manage to muck up the wet and dry ingredients ratio (are you really all that surprised?) and when I came to the part of the directions that said, "mold the dough into two logs on a cookie tray," I felt sure that what they meant was pour the incredibly loose batter into a cake pan. I'll blame it on the humidity. But every subsequent batch has turned out to be great, crisp, biscuity perfection. I'll admit that the recipe is simply the first one that popped up during my initial google search, but it's turned out to the be the perfect base to which you can make all kinds of exciting alterations -- cranberry almond, chocolate orange, cocoa coconut, and candied ginger. And this recipe has no butter. That's right, none, zero, zip, zilch, nil, but you would never know. Dip it in your tea, or coffee, or iced coffee, or chocolate milk, and chew with satisfaction on this tasty, yet durable, afternoon snack.