Soooo…hey there.
Remember me?
I’m that one girl who started a food blog, said whatever random thought came to my head, showed you some pretty sweet recipes, but then fell off the face of the earth?
Remember me now?
**insert crickets here**
Well, I guess that’s what happens when you fall of the earth’s face, now doesn’t it?
There is totally a reason I went dark.
I went out & became one of those fancy-shmancy bakers…like, for realsies.
But once I hit a creative wall, I decided to pack up my chef’s coat & go back to what I loved most:
Doing things my own way with my very own baking gig & gettin’ all kinds of creative with it.Now I’m back with a couple of nifty tricks up my coat sleeve &
I’m wielding a mean a** biscotti.
CHURCH.Soooo…this may NOT be the best way to start this blog but can I just begin by saying that I never really liked biscotti?

I know, I know.
Here I am writing about it, baking it, & trying to get all of you to fall in love with it so much that you’ll go into your kitchens & make it too, and yet there I go, totally putting down biscotti like a mean tweenager.
 

But I just need you to trust me.

^^This ain’t your nonna’s biscotti.^^

(Nonna = grandmother in case you have no idea what I’m talking about)

I actually like this biscotti and I bet yo’ nonna, you will like this biscotti, too.

As a matter of fact, I liked it so much that I started to anthropomorphize the biscotti
& realized that if biscotti were a person, we’d have a lot in common.
Maybe even be BFF’s…For instance:
BISCOTTI:
The word biscotti comes from the Latin word biscoctus, meaning “twice-baked or cooked”.
ME:
In college, sometimes I would party two days in a row therefore, I too, have been “biscoctus”.
BISCOTTI:
The biscotti cooking method of twice-baking was used as a means of prolonging the “shelf-life” during ancient “refridgeration-free” times.
ME:
After turning 30, I started putting on face cream in order to prolong the shelf-life of my face.
Anywho….
Traditionally, biscotti uses anise extract but I tend to associate anise with this amazingly effective yet absolutely gross tea my mom gave me when I had cramps soooo….I’m not putting it in a biscuit.
Lucky for me, the awesome thing about biscotti is that it is pretty versatile.  You can use just about any kind of extract, spices, & nuts in the mix and dip it in just about anything you can think of.
Enough of the history lesson, let’s make some Biscotti!!

Biscotti starts off pretty simple:
First, add all the wet ingredients together.
Then all of the dry ingredients…
 
Then you mix it all together until it forms a little dough ball like this:
(aren’t the little flecks of cinnamon & vanilla so wonderful??)
Roll your dough out into a log then flatten them to about 1/2″ thickness using as little excess flour as possible. I really didn’t need any extra flour because my dough wasn’t that sticky.  Some people roll out the dough between sheets of wax paper.  I tried it & then proceeded to cuss out the wax paper for being so difficult so I just used my fancy little hands instead.
FYI: There’s a lot of curse words used in my kitchen.
Oh, if these walls could talk….they’d say the F word. LOUDLY.

 

I had some extra walnuts in my cupboard so I thought they’d be a nice addition to my biscotti.
But some people have a thing about nuts so I made only half of the logs with them.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you blah, blah, blah…(copyright infringement avoided).

Once they have baked to golden brown & you have cut them to about 2″ wide, turn them on their sides like little biscotti soldiers & re-bake for about 5 minutes to brown the sides.

Allow to cool on a baking sheet, then proceed to dip them in something delicious.

I chose chocolate & extra walnuts.
But most importantly, I chose chocolate….

Stand them on their sides again and allow the chocolate to harden.

Dip in your coffee & sit down with a good book.
I chose the Culinary Institute’s “Baking and Pastry: Master the Art and Craft” & “How Baking Works”.
One teaches you about baking as an art & the other teaches you the chemistry behind baking.
I’m gettin’ my learn on, y’all. Watch out. 

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Cinnamon Walnut Biscotti

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 3.5 dozen

Cinnamon Walnut Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste but any extract works)
  • chocolate chips for dipping, melted (this is optional. Chocolate can be milk, dark, semi-sweet, or white)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (or any other nut of your preference)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. 2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. 3. Wisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, & nutmeg. Set aside.
  4. 4. Beat oil, eggs, sugar & extract together until blended. I made this all by hand but a mixer with the paddle attachment can also be used. Just don't overbeat the mix or you will be eating a rock by the time you are done!
  5. 5. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in small amounts until a heavy dough forms.
  6. 7. Divide dough in 2 pieces.
  7. 8. Roll each ball into logs the length of the cookie sheet you are using.
  8. 9. Using a rolling pin, roll out each log to about 1/2" thickness.
  9. 10. Sprinkle with nuts or leave plain.
  10. 11. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
  11. 12. Remove from oven and using a large straight knife, cut into 2" strips while hot. If you wait until they cool, the biscuits will crumble into a hot mess.
  12. 13. Stand up individual biscuits on their sides and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes on each side. The sides should appear to be slightly golden brown.
  13. 14. Cool completely on a wire rack before dipping into chocolate, rolling in nuts and placing them back on the wire rack allowing for chocolate to set.
https://patriciaspatticakes.com/2012/10/cinnamon-walnut-biscotti-html/