Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Toasted Almond Biscotti


I know..biscotti, again?! Well this recipe interested me because of the way it's made. I've never made biscotti this way so, of course, I had to give it a try!
I found the recipe and technique for making it on this site. The biscotti recipe this lady shows is among the different flavors she sells. I noticed some of her biscotti have butter in the ingredients and some don't. This particular one doesn't.
The only change I made was the almonds. The original recipe calls for whole unsalted raw almonds and I only had sliced and toasted and it worked just fine. I liked the addition of the lemon zest also.
It is a hard biscotti though so I sliced mine thinner than it's usually sliced. I find if a biscotti is going to be on the hard side, it's just easier to bite if it's thinner!
The biscotti had a really nice flavor with the lemon zest and almonds. And I liked the addition of brushing the top with milk and sprinkling it with sugar. Gave it a little sparkle!
So begin by beating the eggs and egg yolks with the sugar in your mixer bowl.
Add the vanilla, baking soda, salt and lemon zest and beat about a minute more.

Add the flour slowly. I halved the recipe and used the full amount of flour, ( 2 1/4 cups for half the recipe)



Then add the almonds and stir to incorporate it.

Now here's the different part... place th dough onto a well floured surface and scoop it up and over with a scraper...



Then roll it out into a large log.
Then cut the log into 6 pieces.


Since I halved the recipe, I cut mine into 3 pieces.


Then roll each piece into a log.
Brush each log with a little whole milk...
And sprinkle the top with sugar ( I used raw sugar).

They do just about double in volume once baked.


Once they come out of the oven, place them on a cutting board and slice them on the diagonal about 1/2" to 3/4" thickness.

Then turn down the oven temp. to 300 and put them back into the oven, 5 minutes each side.


Toasted Almond Biscotti ( adapted from Danielle Di Vecchio's recipe)


4 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
4 - 4 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup crushed unsalted raw almonds ( I used sliced)
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
1. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar for about a minute.
2. Add in the vanilla, baking soda, salt and lemon zest and beat another minute.
3. Add in the flour slowly starting with the 4 cups and add more, up to another 1/2 cup, if needed. ( I used the full amount).
4. Add in the crushed almonds and mix til all incorporated.
5. Place the dough onto a floured work surface and knead a minute with a bench scraper.
6. Roll dough into a large log, then using the scraper, cut into 6 pieces.
7. Roll each piece into a log and place the logs onto your baking sheet, leaving about 3" for spreading.
8. Brush milk on top of each, then sprinkle with coarse sugar ( I used raw sugar).
9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or til slightly browned and firm to the touch.
10. Lower oven temp. to 300 and place the logs onto a cutting board and slice each log on the diagonal about 1/2" to 3/4" thickness.
11. Place each slice onto baking sheets and bake again, 5 minutes on each side.
Cool slices on wire rack, then place into tins. I'm sure these will keep for weeks, as long as you keep them in cookie tins. I always find the tupperware or rubbermaid containers make the biscotti soft but cookie tins are more air tight!




1 comment:

  1. These look interesting, nothing like i have ever seen before.

    http://thecookiescoop.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete