Orange and almond biscotti

I like to give friends something homemade for Christmas, and this really fills the spot. Each step is fast and easy. It can be done the evening before I wish to gift it, and finished off the following morning. I just get up a little earlier, which really works for me to be able to fit it in during the business of Christmas time. These biscuits are quite hard and very sweet, but they go perfectly with a hot drink to dunk it in. This is not an original recipe, but I have no idea where I got it from, so I can't reference it properly, unfortunately.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 250g caster sugar (baking sugar or other finely ground sugar)
  • 80g slivered almonds
  • zest of one orange
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla paste (or extract)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 250g flour

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

  2. Cream the eggs and sugar, then add the orange zest and vanilla. Combine well.

  3. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then mix in the almonds. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Combine well.

  4. Lightly flour the greaseproof paper, and shape the dough into a long log. It's going to flatten out as it cooks, so it's more important that it is long than about the width (although a uniform width is ideal).

  5. Place the baking tray in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 160°C. Bake for 35 minutes.

  1. Remove from the oven. Pick up the greaseproof paper and slide it, with the biscotti on top, over to a cooling rack. Allow it to cool completely.

  2. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Slice the biscotti as thinly as possible using a serrated knife. My slices are usually around 1cm thick. Place them on a baking tray and bake for 8 minutes on each side.

  1. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in a tin.

Tags

  • Recipe
  • Christmas
  • Baking
  • Easy