Pepatelli: Black Pepper - Honey Biscotti

taken from their description in Dolci: Italy's Sweets | Francine Segan :

"  ...pleasing bite...    ...positively addictive...

...guiltless...   ...absurdly simple...

...sophisticated...   ...especially wonderful...  "

me oh my, I had to make these!

This was my first attempt at biscotti.  I'd never been too interested in them, but this recipe intrigued me.

  There is an astounding range of flavors, the complexity of which would suggest an equally complex method.
 Not so.

The dough is made up entirely of honey, flour, & almonds, and is flavored with the zest of an orange, cocoa powder, and black pepper. 
That might sound like an odd combination... Admittedly, I've never been a fan of orange and chocolate combined (however, I'd only tasted that in artificially flavored candy).

But these have wowed me.

You may need to add extra flour, as I did; if dough is too liquid, just add handfuls to the dough and mix until dense and slightly crumbly - I used whole wheat pastry flour, which added pleasant flavor & texture.

When these are cooling, they release the most addicting, intoxicating aroma.

These are good dunked in coffee, but far better with black tea, like Earl Grey.    

Black Pepper-Honey Biscotti

adapted from Dolci: Italy's Sweets| Francine Segan

1 heaping CUP DARK HONEY
1 1/2 CUPS WHOLE ALMONDS
1 3/4 CUPS FLOUR*
ZEST OF ONE ORANGE
1 TSP. COCOA POWDER
1 TSP. GROUND BLACK PEPPER
*plus more, if needed, as needed

Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Heat honey over low heat until quite warm and liquidy. Pour into bowl & add, in order,
the almonds, flour, orange zest, cocoa powder, & pepper.
Mix, using a wooden spoon, til a dough forms. If too runny, add more
flour until dough is rather crumbly.
Flour hands and parchment. Place 1/4 of dough on prepared pan and shape
into a rectangle approximately 3/4 inch thick, 6 inches long, & 1 1/2 inches wide.
Repeat with remaining dough, until you have four rectangles about the same size.
Bake for around 25 minutes, til golden and set.
Optional: flip rectangles halfway through baking.
(I couldn't, as I did not flour the parchment originally. Still turned out fine.)
While still hot, cut each rectangle crosswise into twelve pieces.
Once cut, cool biscotti to room temperature before storing;
these are said to last for several months if kept airtight. Makes 48 cookies.