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It’ FIRST WEDNESDAY of the month and oh boy oh boy oh boy it’s time to share a recipe IN PURRRSUIT OF FLAVOURS with Da Phenny and Chef Shoko! This month’s theme is DOUGH. So many yummy things come from a good dough project. I guess that would make ME a “dough boy” since I’m going to be sharing the recipe right?????? Although since NEXT Saturday the 16th is Armed Forces Day, I’ll show you a photo of a monument in honor of a REAL Dough Boy from World War I !
Now – where was I – oh yes. About to share a recipe. My recipe involving making a dough is really my Mom’s famous recipe for Biscotti…………she makes the BESTEST biscotti although she hasn’t made it in a while………flour is in short supply around here thanks to “THE VIRUS” but here’s her recipe anyway. Hope you try it. Take it away Mom!
Pam’s Biscotti Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups flour
3/4-1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teasp. vanilla extract (note: If I am making almond biscotti – just adding some almonds to the mix – I use almond extract instead of vanilla extract)
5 oz. package dried fruit (can be more or less as you like – our FAVORITE is cranberries)
3 large eggs
1 stick butter – melted
DIRECTIONS:
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees……….use large cookie sheet (ungreased). Mom lines her cookie sheet with parchment but that’s not necessary.
In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and melted butter……..then with hand mixer add one egg at a time and beat well. Add the vanilla extract to that mix and set aside. In second mixing bowl, combine three cups flour and one tablespoon baking powder. Mix well. Put the butter mixture into the flour/baking powder and mix well. Batter will be STIFF. Add fruit or nuts (you can add more or less than I’ve shown in the recipe – it’s totally to your taste…..sometimes I add a LOT more fruit or nuts than one 5 oz. package!). Mix well.
On floured surface, divide the dough into three equal portions. Shape each portion into round “loaf” about 9-10 inches long. Transfer each loaf onto cookie sheet and flatten with your hand until each loaf is about three inches wide and about 3/4 inch thick. Separate each flattened loaf by at least an inch on the cookie sheet – more if your cookie sheet is large enough!
Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes until light golden color………remove and cool for ten minutes on cookie sheet. After cooling, transfer loaves to large cutting board and using very sharp knife, cut the loaves on a diagonal into pieces about an inch wide. Cutting on the diagonal will give you “longer” biscotti. Note: Try to make one, swift cut for each piece because the cookies are pretty delicate at this point – don’t use a “sawing” motion or they will break up. Put cut pieces back on the cookie sheet cut side down. They can be crowded on the cookie sheet – no need to leave space between. There will be room for all three loaves of cut biscotti on one cookie sheet! Put back in hot oven for 10 minutes, remove from oven and carefully turn pieces over to expose other side – then back in the oven they go for another 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them – you don’t want them to burn but you want them to be browned up a bit. Almost every time I make these I either have to add a minute or less (don’t ask me why – maybe my oven?!).
Let finished biscotti cool on the cookie sheet. They are delicious warm AND if you want to, you can easily make a chocolate sauce (melted chocolate) to dip one end of each piece into and allow them to dry if you like your biscotti like that.
Thanks Mom! I hope some of the Hop participants try making this – it’s just so darn yummy and Dad loves dunking it in his coffee in the morning. So Phenny and Shoko that wraps it up for Teddy and Mom’s contribution to your monthly HOP! Thanks for having it – everyone is going to wind up with lots of new recipes to try. No matter WHAT kind of Chef you might be!!