Saturday 13 June 2009

Dried berry and almond biscotti


I can't get enough of these crunchy double-baked biscuits - nor can my Mum. We both love dunking these biscuits into our morning coffee. I made this particular batch with some chewy and tart dried berries along with some roast almonds left from a previous baking project but the base of this recipe is so versatile you can easily tailor it to suit your whim and fancy. A particularly popular variation I make contains honey, cinammon, orange zest and nuts of some description (NB I have used walnuts, almonds and a combination of brazil nuts and pecans in the past).

dried berry and almond biscotti
300g plain flour
200g castor sugar
1/2 cup dried berries
1 cup blanched almonds
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
(makes approximately 3 dozen generously sized biscuits)
preheat oven to 160C
mix dry ingredients in a bowl
beat eggs and vanilla essence in a separate bowl
pour wet ingredients into dry and give stir until combined
divide the mix into 2
shape each portion into logs measuring about 5 cm in width
allow enough room to spread
bake the logs for approximately 30 minutes or just pale golden
remove from oven and allow to cool completely
cut into 1cm thick biscuits with a serrated knife
lay in a single layer on a baking tray
bake for 10-15 minutes to completely dry the biscuit out
enjoy with coffee.

1 comment:

PAM said...

These sound good Li. I love biscotti in fact I just interviewed for a Pastry Chef job at a high end Italian restaurant. The job will start next October if I get it. I will definately make biscotti there. Thanks for your comment about my graduation cake on my blog.