Biscotti

On a cold wintery January day all I want is a cup of tea and a biscuit in my hand and at this present moment in time I am loving the French biscuit Biscotti, which in old French means 'twice cooked'. This biscuit is one of my favourites as it is very hard and crunchy so can last longer and tastes amazing dipped in coffee or tea!
 

 Ingredients~ 

 

125g Plain flour

1 tsp Baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon

85g Caster sugar

Zest of half a lemon

50g Blanched almonds or pistachio kernels, roughly chopped

50g Currents

50g Apricots, chopped into current sized chunks

1 Large egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp. Milk

 

Method~

1. Preheat the oven to 160' fan and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

 

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Add the lemon zest and toss through the almonds or pistachios and currents and apricots. Add the egg and milk, first stirring the cutting through the mixture to combine. You should have a reasonable sticky, heavy dough.

 

3. Lightly flour the dough and your hands and shape into a rough log, 20-25cm long. it doesn't matter if it is not completely even. Position it in the middle of the lined baking tray.

 

4. Bake for 35 minutes then, while its still hot, cut the baked doughinto slices 1 1/2- 2cm thick using a serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion.

 

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 130' fan. Lay the slices across a large baking tray (or even two, if necessary) and bake for a further 10 minutes before turning the slices over and baking for a further 10 minutes.

 

6. Leave to cool completely before serving with a necessary cup of tea!
 

 

 

OliveeKid xxx