I can’t remember how I fell upon the Woolverton Inn. It may have been during my online search for a wedding venue. I’m not exactly sure, but I do know that I fell in love with it instantly. A wedding at the Woolverton would have been beyond-words lovely. Though we chose to have our wedding at a beautiful historic house closer to our home, I never forgot about the Woolverton Inn. Many times, I visited their website and daydreamed about spending some time there. We finally had the opportunity in September, 2006. It was our first wedding anniversary. I was newly pregnant with our first son. We had just announced our pregnancy at a surprise birthday party for my father. We had so much to celebrate. And the Woolverton Inn couldn’t have been a more perfect place to celebrate.
The Woolverton Inn in Stockton, NJ
Set in the midst of rolling hills, along the Delaware River, the Woolverton Inn was a tranquil escape from the rush of day to day life. The main building is a beautiful 1792 stone manor house, comfortably situated on 10 acres of land. A handful of private cottages are steps away. The grounds are peppered with beautiful gardens, frog filled ponds, and large open pastures with grazing sheep.
Tranquility
We stayed in one of the cottages, the Sojourn Loft, which featured a fireplace and a second level with jacuzzi tub and hammock. The featherbed on the mattress was so amazingly comfortable, that my husband later contacted the inn to order me one as a birthday gift. My husband got an in-room massage on the first day and we spent another day strolling around nearby New Hope. The surrounding area is full of interesting things to do, including wine tours, antiquing, hiking, and hot-air ballooning. The inn even offers a package, which includes a bike rental and gourmet picnic lunch. There are many wonderful dining options in the surrounding towns and breakfast at the inn is indescribable. Seriously, you have to visit this place! I’d go back in a heartbeat.
Upstairs in the Sojourn Loft
I have so many wonderful memories from our short stay at the Woolverton. But one of the things which left an indelible impression on me was the biscotti! To be honest, I have no memories of tasting biscotti before the Woolverton. I’m not certain if it’s that I never had it before then or whether their biscotti was just so delicious that it erased any other memory. (I’m inclined to believe it is the latter.) They kept a jar full of the fresh, sweet treat in the dining room at all times. I lost count on the number of biscotti I consumed during our time there. I apologize to the other guests for taking more than my fair share. I couldn’t help it.
As I was watching my son eat a biscotti the other day, I was instantly drawn back to the Woolverton Inn. I thought about the biscotti for a few days. Then, I started looking up biscotti recipes. Finally, I decided to send the inn a message to see if they’d be willing to share their recipe with me. And, they were!! I am very delighted to share this wonderful recipe with you!
Lemon Almond Biscotti
The Woolverton Inn’s Lemon-Almond Biscotti
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup whole blanched almonds
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to blend.
Add the flour and almonds and stir until a dough forms.
Turn out onto floured surface and knead a few times; dough will be soft.
Divide in two and roll each into a log about 2 inches in diameter.
Transfer logs to sheet pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes.
Carefully cut into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife.
Place slices on pan and bake again for another 20 minutes.
These keep nicely in a cookie jar.
Biscotti Dough
Rolled Biscotti Log
Biscotti after first baking
Sliced biscotti
Biscotti after second baking
Watch out for sneaky babies.
A note about blanched almonds…
This recipe calls for 1 cup of whole blanched almonds. Blanched almonds are simply almonds with the skin removed. I searched online and found the same procedure for blanching almonds outlined in several places. Place shelled almonds in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the almonds. Allow them to sit for a minute. Drain. Rinse. Pinch the skins off with your fingers. Sounded easy enough. In actuality, it was a much more time-consuming process than I’d anticipated. On my first attempt, the skins did not slip off at all. I repeated the process, allowing them to sit in boiling water for another minute. This time, some of the skins slipped off easily, others came off with a little effort, and some skins remained stubbornly in place. I am not sure if the freshness of the shelled almonds has anything to do with it. For curiosity’s sake, I’ll probably try blanching almonds again to experiment with freshly shelled almonds and alternate procedures. But, in the mean time, most grocery stores carry blanched almonds slivers, which will work wonderfully for this recipe!
Enjoy!
The Gourmand Mom 