What many of you may not know is that I harbor a baking phobia. In fact, this is the subject of my next Hawaii Women's Journal column. Cooking relaxes me. If something goes wrong, I can always adjust and fix it. Add more salt if it's under seasoned, or more stock if it's too salty. Tinker with the ingredients.
Not so with baking. It's more akin to alchemy -- a quasi-scientific, baffling, magical process that has a tendency to go terribly wrong (at least, in my experience). This fear may have taken root because for years, I was working with a finicky, decades old oven that had difficultly keeping temperature, which is the only thing that an oven really has to do, if you think about it.
However, I now have a new oven that -- gasp! -- maintains proper temperature. And I've been pushing myself over the last year to face my fears and bake more. Even so, I knew that biscotti, a twice-baked cake originating in Italy, was going to challenge me. But I was determined to bake my heart out.
I blocked off an afternoon (these puppies were going to take up some quality time to bake) and settled into my kitchen with my ingredients. As my cooking tends to have a healthy angle, I did alter Marianne's recipe slightly. I used half organic, whole grain spelt flour (spelt is an ancient relative of wheat) and organic, reduced fat, unsweetened coconut (a literal mouthful!). I also couldn't find coconut extract at my local Whole Foods, so I opted to forgo the ingredient.
Even though I was prepared for the worst, the biscotti came out beautifully -- crunchy, not too sweet, flavorful. The mango was especially yummy. These little treats would be the perfect accompaniment to a holiday tea or afternoon coffee, or as a lighter take on dessert. Don't be afraid -- give it a shot!
Here's my recipe with alterations, and below you'll find Marianne's original recipe. Enjoy!
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and beat until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt. Add the flour mixture, as well as the coconut, mango, and lime zest to the egg mixture and stir until just combined. It will seem a bit dry, but use your hands to mix until dough comes together.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half, and shape each half into a log, approximately 8 inches in length. Place logs 2-3 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Flatten each log into a rectangle, approximately 3 inches wide.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and cracked on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 275 degrees.
On a cutting board, trim the ends of the logs, and cut diagonally into 1/2-3/4 inch thick slices (you should get about 12 per log). Place the slices cut side down on the cookie sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the slices over and bake for another 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the lime glaze, whisk the powdered sugar and lime juice until combined, adding more juice or sugar to reach desired consistency.
Once the biscotti have fully cooled, drizzle or brush the lime glaze onto one cut side of each biscotti, Allow to harden (you can speed this up by putting them in the fridge). Enjoy!
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and coconut extract and beat until smooth.
To make the lime glaze, whisk the icing sugar and lime juice until combined, adding more juice or sugar to reach desired consistency.
Once the biscotti have fully cooled, drizzle or brush the lime glaze onto one cut side of each biscotti, Allow to harden (you can speed this up by putting them in the fridge).
Once the glaze has set, drizzle the white chocolate, and allow that to set. Enjoy!
These look so great! I'm a huge biscotti fan. Thanks so much for participating!
These sound good. I’ll try this for our family reunion. They will surely love this. Thanks for your recipe.
It's a fun recipe... I think you'll love it!
Baking = take a deep breath, don't panic, keep it together! I always have to coach myself through it.
This is such a great idea for biscotti!
Done and done! Thanks for reaching out. Looks like a fun contest.