My Grandmother's Christmas Cookies: Ovocný Chlebiček (Candied Fruit Biscotti)

My grandmother's biscotti are her absolutely favorite cookie.  These are not traditional biscotti, in that they are not baked twice.  It's a gently sweet dough that produces a nice, tough little cookie.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can be fairly flexible with what you choose to mix in.  My grandmother loves candied fruit, whereas I prefer the chocolate chips and raisins she adds in smaller amounts.  My grandmother likes these so much that she had me set aside all the end pieces for her to snack on, which makes these the only cookies she bakes that she absolutely can't resist!

You will need:

250g sugar
120g margarine
3 eggs
300g all-purpose flour
2 c. mixed fruit
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. raisins

Start by measuring out, then beating together the sugar and margarine.

Add ONLY TWO of your eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated.  Keep beating the batter for another 3-5 minutes.

Add the flour spoon by spoon at first, then dump in the rest.

Add your mix-ins.  My grandmother loves mixed fruit and kept adding more and more as we went - you may prefer chocolate chips and raisins so do it to your taste.

When all is mixed, add extra flour to your dough until it becomes heavy and dough-like, sticking to itself rather than to your hands.

Keep kneading and adding dough until it is quite stiff.  Then form it into a lump, cut it into quarters, and roll each quarter out into a log using both hands.

The length of the log should be roughly the width of your cookie sheet.  Lay it out on the sheet, then repeat with the other three quarters and lay them all on the sheet.

Take your FINAL egg and beat it.  Then brush the egg onto the logs of dough.  That will make them nice and glossy (see the two logs at left, above).  Bake them at 350° for about 25 minutes, rotating every 20 minutes.  It will be an even golden brown and a toothpick will come out clean when inserted into the center.  

Remove the logs from the baking sheet to a cutting board.  Let it cool for at least 5 minutes, then cut into 3/4" slices while still warm.  

Store in an airtight box and let them age 1-2 weeks.