In case you missed the past Kitchen Diaries posts: spaghetti and meatballs, tuscan kale and ricotta, an orange loaf. And lastly, my previous biscotti recipe.
You know how I told you I had usually have a lot of lemons in the house and that’s why I made lemon tarts? Well last week I had too many oranges and I definitely didn’t want to make another orange loaf, so instead I made biscotti.
I’ve made biscotti twice before — the first time was a delicious cranberry and almond. Perfectly baked, crispy on the outside, delicate crunch on the inside. Second time, failure with a capital F. I made bricks; they could’ve been used for weapons in war.
However, it’s another day, another bake, so we’re trying again. Biscotti are great to have with a black coffee or for an afternoon treat; they have a high ‘dunkability’ in my opinion. This recipe is ideal because you get just a hint of the orange and nuttiness, but not an overwhelming amount of sugar. This recipe comes from Picnic on a Broom.
Ingredients
2 oranges
210g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
85g butter, softened to room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
70g almond meal
90g blanched almond, (whole or roughly chopped according to preferences)
Method
Finely grate the oranges zest with a box grater or a zester and set the zest aside. Cut one of the oranges in half and squeeze out 1 tbsp of juice. Set the juice aside too.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs, orange zest and juice and beat again for 2 minutes.
Add the flour mixture and beat at a lower speed until just incorporated. You might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to blend in everything.
Tip the almond meal and the almonds into the bowl and mix them in with a spatula.
Preheat your oven to 175°C (345°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scrape the biscotti dough onto the lined baking sheet and shape into a log about 9cm (3 ½ in) wide and 28cm (11 in) long. It might be easier for you to do with slightly damp hands. It’s okay if it looks a bit wonky, it will spread a bit when it bakes.
Bake for 35 min, the log should be pretty golden by then. Take out of the oven and let the log cool down for 30 min.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C. Carefully transfer the log to a cutting board and peel off the parchment paper if it’s stuck. Cut the log into 1.5cm (½ in) thick slices in a back and forth motion using a serrated knife. The edges of the longer biscotti slices might crumble up a bit so be delicate.
Place the slices on the lined baking sheet flat side down and bake for 12-15 min. Take the sheet out of the oven and gently turn the biscotti over.
Return the sheet to the oven and continue baking for another 12-15 min, until golden brown. Be careful not to over bake these, which can be easy to do. They will harden a bit as they cool down, so don’t be careful not to bake till completely firm or they’ll be rock solid after.
Place the biscotti on a wire rack to cool completely before eating.