I'm back! Hope you're still around!

I think it probably goes without saying that things have been busy. Never fear! I haven't stopped cooking! I had a huge backlog of posts, the recipes kept piling up and it soon got overwhelming. Instead of playing catch-up, a clean start.

This weekend, I tinkered a bit with Everyday Food's "Whole-Wheat Raisin Biscotti." I made two batches, changing the recipe a bit to suit my desires, and have changed the instructions a bit to make them more user-friendly.

This was my first crack at biscotti, and once I knew what to expect it turned out very simple. This recipe is for dear MF, with love and kisses.

Whole-Wheat Walnut-Raisin Biscotti

Vegetable oil, for baking sheet

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur is great)

1/3 cup sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 cup walnut halves

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

1 T. applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with vegetable oil. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in walnuts and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and applesauce. Add wet to dry ingredients, mix just until all is moistened. Dough will be crumbly and will not hold together.

Put a large piece of plastic wrap on the kitchen counter. Empty dough onto plastic wrap. Pulling sides of plastic wrap around the dough, and pressing with your hands, shape dough into a loaf about 1 inch thick, 2 1/2 inches wide, and about 7 inches long. Put on the baking sheet. Bake until risen and firm, 20-30 minutes. Cool completely on sheet (30-40 minutes). Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Put the loaf on a cutting board. Cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake, turning once, until dried and slightly golden, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to one month.