Donna Hay's Vanilla + Almond Biscotti

Sorry for the long silence, I was extremely busy with my work assignments. Only found some time to blog now. I've tried making Donna Hay's Vanilla + Almond Biscotti using the recipe from her Modern Classics Book 2 recently. It's sad to note that I never seems to be able to get the cookies dough texture right with all her cookies recipes, first the Star Cookies and then the Shortbread and Gingerbread. Could it be the ingredients over here or it's our humid weather??? I surfed the net and found out that I'm not the only one facing this issue kekekeke... so it's not me, at least :D

After mixing the ingredients together, the mixture turned out to be sticky which resembles a batter rather than dough hence there is no way to knead the dough. Since I've a very short memory, this silly babe went and add a little more flour thinking it will stiffen up the mixture. Well stiffen it did but the biscotti turned out a little hard. As I could not shape the mixture up, I place them into baking tins lined with non-stick baking paper as if I'm baking a cake! Worked as well. So the next round I'm going to do just that instead of pandai-pandai (cleverly) add in extra flour.

After the first round of baking, the mixture turned into a cake like texture. It's rather easy to slice them up using a sharp serrated knife cos I had always wonder how those cookie sellers could make paper thin biscotti. Taste wise, its good, not overly sweet and I tried dunking some into hubby's white coffee... hmmmm mmmmmm... nice!!! I've eaten many slices in one go once whilst watching telly, its a little hard but then its still crunchy... great to munch on... and now you see how my detox diet went down the drain hehehe...

Vanilla + Almond Biscotti

2 cups (250g) plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons
baking powder
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
3/4 cup whole almonds
3 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 160C (325F). Place flour, baking powder, sugar and almonds in a bowl and mix together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to form a dough.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead each piece until smooth. Shape ionto logs and flatten slightly. Place logs onto baking tray and bake for 35 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Cut logs into 5mm (1/4in) thick slices and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 10-15 mins till crispy. Store in air tight container and serve dunked into espresso coffee or liquer. Makes 40.

Ref: Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2, pg 27

Technorati Tags: cookies + donna hay