In Little Italy, every bakery has biscotti... they look stellar, trays upon trays of different flavors behind gleaming glass; cherry, citrus peel, hazelnut, hazelnut chocolate, double chocolate...These Biscotti are made with fresh ground fennel. I store my whole spices in Ziploc bags in the freezer, then pull out a handful, and grind them fresh when I have a recipe that calls for them. I thought how nice it would be to make a lovely chocolate drizzled biscotti, riddled with toasted, golden hazelnuts. But then I realized that I had 90 minutes until my work at the bar started, and I can't afford hazelnuts or chocolate. :D So now I'll talk up these basic biscotti as being , "indulgent, golden, and delicately spiced" Perfect for dipping in anything that will lend it even a smattering of flavor. Just kidding, the fresh fennel is thankfully pungent. For my first, and decidedly cheap try at these ubiquitous Italian cookies, they turned out great.
Ingredients: 2 cups flour ( you may substitute a gluten free flour blend and achieve great results) 2/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon whole fennel seeds 6 tablespoons cold butter To begin, grind the fennel seeds ( in a blender, or mortar and pestle.) Next, add all the ingredients to a blender, and pulse until the butter is in pea sized lumps. Turn into a mixing bowl, add the 2 eggs, and form into a solid ball. Turn onto an oiled baking sheet and form into a log of desired thickness and width. Bake for 350 for 30 minutes. Remove and slice the biscotti into cookies, and law them out on the sheet. Lower the oven temp to 325 and backe for 20-30 more minutes until golden and dry, but not burnt. Cool. Keep in an airtight container. Enjoy with tea or coffee.
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M. RudieneI grew up in rural Wisconsin...moved to Corpus Christi to attend college... and have now moved to the Bronx with my wonderful husband! Categories
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