Sunday, April 09, 2006

Almond Biscotti

We have a weekend ritual in our house of coffee, or foamy milk in Emily's case, and biscuits in bed each morning. This week we made Almond Biscotti. I don't normally like baking recipes done in "cups" because that usually means "sticks" of butter and i have yet to fathom out what they are. however, this recipe requires no such thing and so is very easy for children to do themselves.

Almond Biscotti

3/4 cup of whole almonds
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 salt
1 cup sugar

3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 º c
Grease and flour a large baking sheet.

Spread the almonds out on a large baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 mins. Cool and roughly chop (i find lengthwise works best).

Stir flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack two eggs into the well.
Add the vanilla and using a fork mix well. Continue mixing with your hands. If dough seems wet add a little more flour. The dough is ready when it is smooth, dry and fairly stiff.

Work in the nuts using your hands.

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and divide in two. Roll each piece into a fat log shape approx 30cms x 5cm and place side by side on the tray, leaving a 5cm gap between them as they will spread.

Beat the remaining egg and brush over the logs. Bake until golden, appox 30-35 mins.
Remove from oven and slice into thick diagonal slices (using an oven mitt or cloth to hold the logs), a serrated knife works best.

Lay the biscotti on their sides on the baking sheet and cook them again for 5 to 10 mins (I think Biscotti means "twice baked" in Italian).

Cool and store in an airtight container. Enjoy with Coffee, hot chocolate or warm milk - if you try eating them without dunking you may break a tooth!!!

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the last post. I read them out to Emily and she was delighted :o) And thanks Alison for drawing my attention to the trip and if you happen to read this yes we are interested, but i'll try and contact via BHE group.

2 comments:

Elderfaery said...

Those biccies sound lovely and simple...am going to try them since you've convinced me that they are easy. I like the idea of your rituals...it's these sort of things that children remember most in the years to come and add reassuringly to family history.

Mrs. Darling said...

I had to laugh at your sticks of butter. It must be that you are not familiar with the way butter is packaged. A stick of butter is 1/2 a cup of butter. It dont have to be in stick form. Any butter measured to half a cup is a stick of butter. So look, now you can make all those recipes you couldnt before. Good luck.