I asked my Instagram family what they would like to see me bake this week as I had cranberries, apricots and pistachios that I wanted to use. The choice was between biscotti and oat bars and biscotti won. I secretly wanted oat bars to win but after baking these I’m so glad it didn’t! This is a bonus recipe as I found two biscotti recipes that looked really nice. One with butter and the other with olive oil. I decided to make both as an experiment, to see which comes out better. Using oil is apparently more authentically Italian but I can’t seem to make up my mind on which I like more.
I used this recipe from The Crumb Blog and adapted a few ingredients to my preference.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp coffee granules
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cold butter/ baking margarine, cut into cubes
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- 3 beaten eggs
- egg wash (1 egg, 2TB milk)
- hazelnuts, chopped for decoration
METHOD:
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Line two baking trays with a non stick baking mat or greaseproof paper.
- Combine the cake flour, cocoa, sugars, baking powder, coffee, cinnamon, salt together.
- Cut the butter into the flour mixture mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and the eggs. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly (8-10 times).
- Divide the dough into quarters and roll into a sausage shape using floured hands. The mixture will be sticky.
- Place 2 sausages on a tray – keeping them well spaced apart as the mixture will spread. Lightly pat the sausages down so the tops are flattened and brush each log with egg wash. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on each log.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, take out and place logs on a rack to cool for 10 minutes then slice 1cm pieces at an angle. Place the biscotti cut side down on the tray and bake for 10 minutes. Turn them over and bake the other side for another 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack, they will harden once completely cool. Store in an airtight container and enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.
