Last fall, I baked probably ten kinds of cookies in two months. At the time, I was in training at work, so I could just bring the cookies to class and hand them out - I made friends, and I didn't eat 4000 calories worth of cookies every day. Win/win.
But when I continued to make them after training, I had a problem. I began to eat cookies for breakfast. Daily. It was not a responsible nutritional decision..
I wasn't willing to give it up completely, though, because it allowed me to continue with my newfound baking habit without excessive extraneous cookie consumption (check out that alliteration!). Instead, I began to look for alternatives, including the homemade pop-tarts from last week. Pop-tarts, I thought, are supposed to be breakfast food - surely that's an improvement over eating cookies every morning!
They may indeed have been. But the pop-tarts took hours to make. Not the best option for a regular project, especially if I ever wanted to bake anything else.
My other morning vice is coffee. And what goes best with coffee??
I refer you to the coffee experts.
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| Lorelai: I ask you. What is a danish without coffee? Rory: The eternal question springs up again. Lorelai: There's no point in even eating a danish without coffee. Sad danish. Lonely danish. Step danish! |
Oh, wait. I didn't make danishes. Sorry, Gilmores!
What I did make was biscotti. I have actually made four kinds of biscotti in the last month and a half, and I don't see it stopping any time soon. So obviously, I'm going to make it into a series for my poor, direction-less blog.
Today's kick-off post features a classic variation - almond biscotti.
Almond Biscotti
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups almonds (it says whole - I used sliced, because it's what I had.)
2 tsp vanilla extract
My addition: 1 tsp almond extract
Preheat oven to 350.
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Including the almonds. I forgot those until later. But it still worked.
2. Add beaten mixture of eggs, vanilla, and (in my case) almond extract. It will be very dry. I had to use my hands to get it all mixed. This is partially because biscotti traditionally uses NO FAT.
Which is why everyone should eat it for breakfast.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into two "logs." Flatten them a bit on a baking sheet, like so:
4. Bake the logs at 350 for about 25 minutes. When they're done, let them cool for a while. (Leave the oven on.)
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| Don't they look so pretty? |
5. Slice the log into diagonal strips and put them flat side down on the baking sheet. This step confused me a lot the first time I made biscotti, so I took a picture of it.
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The strips in the picture are probably too thick. I have found that they must cool completely in order to make thinner strips that don't break in half, though, and it was late, so in the interest of time, I didn't let them cool completely.
This plan ended up backfiring, because thicker strips just meant longer baking time.
6. Put the sliced biscotti back into the oven (at 350 or 325) for at least 25 minutes. It's always taken me longer. It's also a good idea to take them out halfway through the baking time and flip them to the other side.
Let them cool again and dip them in freshly brewed coffee!
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I don't think the Gilmore girls would mind switching out their danishes for one of these every now and then, do you?
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