by Donna Cain
I have always loved biscotti- both the American version that is cake like and the Italian version that is perfectly crunchy to dunk in your coffee. Since we are all about good coffee and tea in the morning and delicious afternoon repasts, a wide assortment of biscotti is always in our menu rotation. I decided to bake up a storm these past few days so that I could send tins of our favorite cookies and biscotti to friends and family. When deciding upon the biscotti recipe I knew immediately that these two were my favorites. What is great about biscotti is that you can make the first bake logs a few days ahead and then when you are ready to serve just slice them and double bake.
and the recipe is so darn easy….. Here’s to having plenty of delicious biscotti to dunk with your family during the holidays.
- 1 cup white sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup liquid egg substitute
- 2¼ cups AP flour
- 1¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 5 ounce milk chocolate candy bar, chopped
- Preheat oven to 350. In the bowl of your stand mixer add the sugar, butter, and olive oil and beat well. Add the vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa, and baking powder with a whisk. Add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate pieces. Cover and chill dough for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Wrap each piece of dough in saran wrap and mold into two long logs. Chill logs for 10 minutes. Place logs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or grease with butter or spray. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until firm. Cool on sheets for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to completely cool. After completely cooled move to a cutting board and cut the loaves into ¾ slices with a serrated knife. Return slices to the baking sheet cut side down for an additional 8-10 minutes until dry and lightly toasted. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
We love serving biscotti with our homemade granola berry parfait. We are always trying new recipes and shown above is a delicious almond version. For the holidays I decided to include a fresh cranberry cornmeal biscotti recipe that has a wonderful nutty flavor from the cornmeal.
In the fall we purchase fresh cranberries from our local bog in bulk so that we can freeze the berries to have all year long. For this recipe we simply slice in half while frozen so that the red color does not bleed into the batter. We also use fresh cornmeal growing at our local Brewster Grist Mill.
- 1 cup AP Flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cups fresh cranberries, frozen
- 5 ounces white chocolate chips
- 1 egg whites only for the wash
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar and butter to your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then beat in the vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour mixture, just until blended. Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate. Gather the dough and divide in half. Wrap each half in saran wrap and form into long loafs. Place in the frig for ½ hour. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the logs to the baking sheets. Beat egg white with 1 teaspoon of water and wash the loaves. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Let the logs cool and when ready to use slice the logs into ½"slices with a serrated knife. Return the slices to the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes more.
Happy holiday everyone!
Donna..these were so good the morning you served them! thanks for sharing the recipe!
My pleasure. I have such fond memories of my family sharing recipes that it just feels like a natural to share with family and friends. Happy holidays. I just realized the chocolate biscotti recipe did not show up on the post. I am adding that one now. Happy holidays and best to you and your family.