My friend, Camille Styles, has a new book out today! Camille Styles Entertaining is all about how to make, create, and serve for a gatherings of all kinds. This girl knows her stuff when it comes to having people over, and I'm so proud of her and her new book! Today, she's sharing this recipe from the book with us for Chocolate Cherry Dipped Almond Biscotti.

From Camille, "Biscotti is Italian for 'twice cooked', and the unique method of slicing the loaf of hot-out-of-the-oven dough and baking each cookie a second time is what gives these cookies their satisfying crunch. They practically beg to be dipped in a cup of coffee, making the chocolate coating indulgently melty…and making me want to bring back the tradition of afternoon teatime."

See below for the full recipe…

Chocolate Cherry Dipped Almond Biscotti
(makes 5 dozen cookies)

You'll need:
1½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (see page 47)
12 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate

Here's how:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, egg and egg yolk, vanilla, almond extract, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda until well combined. Fold in the cherries and almonds.

3. With well-floured hands, pat the dough into 3 slightly flattened logs (about 15 × 4 inches each) on one of the prepared baking sheets, leaving a few inches between logs.

4. Bake until golden and firm, about 25 minutes. Let the logs cool on the sheet for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a large spatula to carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to cut the logs crosswise into ¾-inch slices.

5. Arrange the slices faceup on the baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets and flipping the biscotti halfway through, until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes.

6. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

7. To make the dipping sauce, roughly chop the chocolate and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50 percent power in 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the chocolate is smoothly melted.

8. One at a time, dip the biscotti in chocolate to coat the bottom third of each cookie. Use the rim of the bowl to scrape excess chocolate from each cookie, then return them to the cooling rack and let the chocolate set. Enjoy!

{Photo courtesy of Camille Styles}