Thursday, December 22, 2011

Almond Biscotti

Biscotti was in my 'to bake' list for a long time and finally I made it yesterday for my kid's teachers. Biscotti's are traditional Italian cookie which are long curve shaped, baked with only eggs and sugar as the main ingredients. No fat is added to these cookies. It has a crisp and crunchy texture, great with a cup of tea and it stores well for several days.




Ingredients:
1 cup blanched whole almonds
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8th tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp almond essence


Method:
Blanching the almonds:
Boil the water in a sauce pan and add the whole almonds. Leave them in the boiling water for exactly 1 min.
Then drain the water and remove the skin. The nut just easily pops out of the skin.
Cool the nuts


Toasting the almonds
Heat the oven to 350F
Spread the cooled almonds on a baking sheet
Bake for 10 mins or until the nuts are slightly brown and fragrant


Baking of the Biscotti is done in two parts.


Baking the Biscotti - Part 1
Preheat the oven to 300F.Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper
Stir the flour and salt in a bowl.
Roughly chop the toasted almonds
Beat the eggs and sugar till pale and creamy. If you lift the beater the mixture should fall into ribbons
Now add the vanilla and almond essence, and beat for 2 mins .
Now add the dry ingredients slowly and beat till incorporated.
The dough is very sticky at this point.
Dust the working surface and your palms with flour.
Transfer the dough to the floured surface and shape it to a log of about 12 inch in length and 3 - 4 inch in width.
Transfer the log to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 30-40 mins or until firm to touch.
Cool on a wire rack for 15 mins






Part 2:
Cut the log into thin slices of about 1/2 inch thickness.  Arrange the slices , cut side down on baking sheet and bake for 10 mins. Turn the slices over and bake for another 10 mins or until brown and crispy.
Remove from oven and let cool. Store in airtight container.
This measure yields about 15-16 slices, depends on how thin you slice it.




Wish you all Happy Holidays :)

11 comments:

Kurinji said...

yummy o yummy Sumi....

Unknown said...

Crispy and perfect biscottis tempted to take few :)

Priya Suresh said...

Happy holidays Sumi, biscottis looks extremely nutty and prefect for this festive season..

Akila said...

Looks yummy Sumi. I have tried various of your recipes and they are all good. How can I make this one eggless? You had suggested to use 1.2cups milk for an egg in the banana bread recipe.

Sumi said...

Thanks Akila. To make it eggless you can add about 1/3 cup of apple sauce along with 2 tblsp of oil and increase the baking powder to 11/2 tsp. I have never tried eggless, but I think this should work. Good luck.

Sumi said...

@ Priya , Kurinji and Sharmilee - Thanks gals, wish you all a very happy new year.

Cham said...

They look so perfect ur Biscotti!

anjana said...

so crisp and perfect biscottis..love to try the eggless version..:)

Rachana said...

Crispy and delicious biscotti.

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious looking holiday cookies
happy holidays to you and family

Alexander said...

WOW! It looks yammy!Tasty!!!!

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