Sweet Justice

I was the recent recipient of a lovely little cookbook with a big story. It started when Joanne Green was called to jury duty for a murder trial in Toronto. The trial dragged on, and very quickly, the jurists tired of the standard fare provided for them at coffee breaks.

So Joanne started baking. Every day, she took a different goodie for the jury to enjoy. After the trial, they asked for her family recipes, resulting in the little red cookbook, Justice is Served.

Since receiving the cookbook from her father, John Courtney of Saskatoon, I've been quite stuck on her chocolate almond biscotti. I made two batches just for giving away, but before they could get out the door, we ate them ourselves. So, it's back to the kitchen... You might say, I'm on jury duty!

Chocolate Almost Biscotti
6 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2+ cup whole almonds

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and then flour mixture. Stir in almonds.

Divide dough in half. Flatten to form 2 logs approximately 10" long and 4" wide. Bake on parchment paper line baking sheet for 20 minutes at 350. Reduce oven to 300. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

Cut diagonally into 3/4" thick slices. Place upright (so you don't have to turn over 1/2 way through cooking) and bake for 15 minutes. You can adjust the baking time depending how dry you like your biscotti.

Thank you, Joanne! What a lovely family and jury momento.
Want to own Justice is Served? It's $15 plus postage. Email Joanne.