Low fat and versatile, these biscotti are worth the effort...the perfect go-go-go breakfast food. Biscotti is very hard, so plan to dunk them into coffee or tea. Alternatively, for a traditional Italian experience, reduce sugar to 1/2 cup and dunk the biscotti in Vin Santo or other glorious dessert wine.

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 3 c sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3⁄4 t rum or other flavoring, like almond extract
• 2 c all purpose flour
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 1⁄2 c almonds or hazelnuts (raw or toasted)
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 3⁄4 t baking soda
• 1⁄4 t salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a large baking sheet or use baking paper. Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl of heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat until well blended. Mix flour, almonds, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Gradually add to egg mixture, beating until blended. If dough is crumbly, add water 1 Tablespoon at a time until the dough stick together, but doesn't become too sticky. Optionally, you can stir in 1/2 cup chopped dates or chocolate chips.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and flour your hands too! Gather dough and smush it into a 16-inch-long log. Transfer to prepared sheet. Flatten log to 1-inch thickness, leaving it a bit thicker on the ends (it'll rise more in the middle). Bake until light brown and cracked on top, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Transfer sheet to a cooling rack; cool log 10 minutes.

Transfer warm log to work surface. Using serrated knife, cut log on sharp diagonal into 1/4- to 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange back onto baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes per side. Transfer to rack and cool (biscotti will harden while cooling).

They'll store well in an airtight up to 1 week, or freeze what you aren't doing to eat.