Biscotti

Tuscan almond biscuits with no fat at all, baked as a log and cut on the diagonal.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg.

Ingredients

• 350 g plain flour
• 250 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs, and 1 yolk to glaze
• 200 g whole almonds, skin on, unroasted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 orange

Method

1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and zest, then work the eggs in to a stiff, sticky dough.
2. THERE IS NO BUTTER AND NO OIL IN THIS. Fat is what makes a biscuit short and tender, and these are meant to be hard enough to need dipping in vin santo. Adding butter gives you a pleasant biscuit that is not this one.
3. Work in the almonds WHOLE and raw. They toast inside the dough during the two bakes.
4. With wet hands, shape two flat logs 6 cm wide on lined trays. Brush with the yolk.
5. Bake at 170C for 25 minutes until set and lightly cracked.
6. CUT THEM ON THE DIAGONAL WHILE STILL WARM, 2 cm thick, with a serrated knife in one stroke. Left to cool first they shatter and you get rubble.
7. Lay the slices cut side down and bake again at 150C for 15 minutes, turning once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes