Biscotti

Over the last couple of weeks I kinda lost my baking mojo. I've been a bit sick (feeling heaps better now though) and then my fridge up and died. We still have yet to get a replacement fridge, but it should be sorted soon. This meant I haven't been stocking up on staples like milk or butter. But with the price of the stuff, I'm probably doing my wallet a favour. Nearly NZ$5 for a block of butter, that's insanity. But that's a rant for another day.

So anyway, I decided to give myself a kick in the pants and get back into my domestic goddessness, fridge or no fridge, sickness or no sickness. Besides, baking (and eating said baking) is a great way to perk oneself up. So armed with my no fail easy peasy biscotti recipe I was back in the zone, and these have become our dunking biscuit of choice. They are so easy to make and don't require butter. Bonus! Have fun experimenting with flavour combinations, I like using salted pistachios, oh and almonds with orange zest is awesome too. You could even dip, or drizzle, them in chocolate for extra indulgence. For the ones in the photo I used raw almonds (blanched almonds are good too) and the grated zest of one orange.

Ingredients:

375g (3 cups) plain flour
170g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g nuts, e.g almonds, pistachio, hazelnuts, pinenuts
Other additions could include things like orange zest or crystallised orange, or spices such as cinnamon or aniseed.

Method:

Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon.
Next, use your hands to knead the mixture into a smooth dough.
Halve the dough.
On a lightly floured bench, roll each portion into a log about 20cm long.
Place the two logs onto a lined baking tray, and slightly flatten the tops with your hand.
Bake for 25 minutes at 180 Celsius, or until lightly golden.
Remove from oven and leave to cool for a little while.
Reduce oven temperature to 170 Celsius.
Cut each log on the diagonal, to create slices that are about 1cm thick.
Like this:

Slicing is easiest when using a large serrated knife.

Place the slices onto baking trays and bake for another 15 minutes, or until they start to brown

Makes approx 35-40