One of my favorite things a friend of mine makes is Biscotti. I swear, when she makes them I cannot keep my hands out of the cookie jar. They are good with coffee, tea, breakfast, lunch or even a sinful dinner! When I asked her what the recipe was, she was kind enough to share and even credit her source- Nigella Lawson! Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy as much as we do!
Nigella’s Biscotti:
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup sugar (raw or white)
- 1/2 cup hazel nuts
- 3 tablespoons (give or take) dark chocolate roughly chopped (I like they jaggered shards of choc rather than the uniform bits/buds but use them if you wish)
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/2 good vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. If they are not already skinned place hazelnuts on a tray and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes or until they smell toasty, keep an eye on them this can happen fast!
2. Take them out of the oven and tip them into a tea towel and rub them roughly with the towel, the papery skins should all flake off onto the towel. That was the tricky bit…
3. Now mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, nuts and chocolate make sure the nut and chocolate are well coated in the dry ingredients, they seem to remain suspended better in the mix, rather than sinking to the bottom. I use the dough hooks on an electric mixture but a wooden spoon is just fine, add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to form a dough.
4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and shape into two flattish logs. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper/parchment and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
5. Cut the logs into 5mm (thin as you can) slices and lay them back onto the tray, pop them back into the oven for 10 minutes until the biscotti are golden crisp and to your liking!
6. I swap the choc chips and nuts for 3/4 cup of almonds (much more traditional) perfect with espresso or with 3/4 cup of glace ginger and 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. Quite adult and nice with good vanilla ice cream. Don ‘t be afraid to play around with this one!
Serves: 8
*If you are looking for a thoughtful gift for the holidays, wrap up a batch in cellophane and tie with holiday ribbon. You will love giving this as much as your friends and family will love receiving it!
-Jessica Brown
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