This is a recipe I have been wanting to do for ages and I thought it would be perfect for my 12 days of cookies.
There are so many flavour combinations for biscotti but I love lots of different nuts and paired them with dried fruit for Christmas. I have also added some orange zest for a citrus flavour.
They are baked twice to get the dry crunch you associate with biscotti. I like to add nuts and dried fruit to mine so you get the crunch from the nuts and chewy sweetness from the dried fruit.
You can add any combination of fruit and nuts you like but I loved this combination for the festive season.
They keep really well for 2-3 weeks in an airtight jar and are perfect dunked into a delicious espresso or a great accompaniment to a glass of amaretto on Christmas Eve. My boys like them dunked into a mug of hot chocolate on a chilly Cumbrian evening.
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) Gas mark 4, then line a baking tray with parchment.
In a large bowl place the flour, baking powder, sugar, melted butter and eggs.
Mix together with a spatula then add the fruit, nuts and orange zest, then use your hands to knead it all together in the bowl.
Transfer to a floured surface and divide the mixture into two. Roll each piece to a log approximately 23cm long and 5cm wide.
Place the two logs on the lined baking tray but leave a gap as they will spread while baking.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Then with a bread knife cut each log slightly on the diagonal into 1cm thick slices.
Place the slices back on the baking tray and bake for another 18 minutes turning them over half way through the baking time.
Leave to cool before serving.
Sarah's Festive Biscotti
Sarah's servings: 25
Sarah's skill: Medium
Baking time: 48 minutes
Ingredients
250g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
150g Caster Sugar
50g Melted Unsalted Butter
2 Large Eggs
75g Mixed Dried Fruit
30g Pistachio Nuts
30g Blanched Hazelnuts
30g Walnuts
Zest of 1 Orange
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (160 fan) Gas mark 4.
Line a baking tray with parchment.
In a large bowl place the flour, baking powder, sugar, melted butter and eggs.
Mix together with a spatula then add the fruit, nuts and orange zest, then use your hands to knead it all together in the bowl.
Transfer to a floured surface and divide the mixture into two.
Roll each piece to a log approximately 23cm long and 5cm wide.
Place the two logs on the lined baking tray but leave a gap as they will spread while baking.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Then with a bread knife cut each log slightly on the diagonal into 1cm thick slices.
Place the slices back on the baking tray and bake for another 18 minutes turning them over half way through the baking time.
Leave to cool before serving.
Sarah's extra slice......
Use a serrated bread knife with a sawing action to cut into slices after the first bake.
Any dried fruit such as chopped apricots, dates and figs would also work well.