biscotti Archives - Passionate About Baking

Wholegrain Holiday Biscotti …{chocolate+cranberries+ginger+walnuts}

“Eat clean. Think straight. Work consistently. Speak positively. Motivate others. Believe in yourself.” Toni Sorenson

Wholegrain Holiday Biscotti. It’s strange that I post biscotti every so often. Each time Mr PAB travels I brace myself for the request. “Do you think you’ll have time to make me some biscotti?” Yes he is that predictable. And me? Equally unpredictable. Even if I am torn for time, I know I will definitely bake a batch. The unpredictable bit is that I cannot make the same recipe over and over again.

That the biscotti was going to be healthy and wholegrain was a given. The beginning of the holiday season means a lot of additional flavours begin to dance in the head. Crystallised ginger, dried cranberries, orange, and walnuts of course… fun fun fun! Baking the batch gave me a chance to play around with this beautiful Acacia Wooden Cutting Board from Engrave that I recently received. Chopped the walnuts, ginger and cranberries on it, flipped it over and shot some more…

Meat or mushrooms, this rugged chopping board can handle it all. Hand crafted from a single block of Acacia wood, this rustic looking board is as comfortable in the lap as it on the kitchen counter. If you find one side is worn out from months if frantic chopping, flip it around for a second stint.

Engrave have got a whole lot of fun, innovative and interesting products online. I especially love the Acacia range, but there’s plenty more in the lifestyle range. Their engraving and personalized products really stand out. There is loads of creativity on offer that includes plaques, canvas, name plates, ipad engraving …

…. back to baking and the queen of substitutions kicked in. It was going to be a chocolate base. Most whole grains work really well with chocolate, so no question of messing around there. I like that this recipe worked out well. Plenty of wholegrain – buckwheat flour, wholewheat flour and oats, it’s packed with nuts, ginger, cranberries too … all good for the winters. The recipe is a healthier take on the chocolate almond biscotti I made several years ago…. and that brings me to the Fit Foodie meter.

As you might know, I was part of the Saffola Oats campaign led by Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna last year to develop healthy and tasty recipes.Using wholegrain and healthy ingredients like oats, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, whole sugars etc., I discovered a whole new world! There’s been no looking back…I developed bunch of fun and interesting recipes. You can now find these on the FIT FOODIE website. There were a couple of videos shot for Food Food Channel as well. They are on the Saffola Fit Foodie site and on you tube too.This year around, I have been invited to hop on board and join their ‘Fit Foodie Panel‘.

Our panel of experts is the one that creates, carefully scrutinizes and approves every recipe that is available on the site. Headed by Michelin starred chef, Vikas Khanna, it includes die hard foodies, eminent chefs, popular food bloggers and renowned nutritionists who ensure that the scale is perfectly balanced on both health and taste. They cook, they taste and yes, they share exactly what works to spin that delightfully healthy meal on the table!

The site offers another interesting concept that’s been developed by the efficient and creative team behind brand Saffola… the Fit Foodie Meter. It works hard to improve normally used recipes and give them a healthier makeover of sorts, yet keeps the tasty factor in place.

The Fit Foodie Meter score is in a comparative format. The meter always shows the score for two recipes: 1) The ‘Regular Recipe’ or the most commonly prepared form of the dish and 2) The ‘Fit Foodie Recipe’ or the recipe presented in this website, which is an improved/modified version of the original dish. For example, if one were to take pizza as the dish, the Fit Foodie Meter would show the score for a regular veg pizza (Regular Recipe) and that for the Green Pizza (Fit Foodie Recipe) whose recipe is presented on this website. The greater the difference between the two scores, the higher the nutritive value of the Fit Foodie recipe in comparison to the Regular Recipe.

So join us at Saffola Fit Foodie as we try and get you healthier takes on recipes. Feel free to request for ‘recipe makeovers’ . Together we can reach our goal of tasty & healthy recipes. You can submit your healthier versions of recipes too. It’s a lifestyle change. Come be part of it!

[print_this]Recipe: Wholegrain Holiday Biscotti {chocolate+cranberries+ginger+walnuts}

Summary: Crisp, chocolaty, and healthy, this Wholegrain Holiday Biscotti is a nice addition to the holiday cookie platter. With cranberries, walnuts, crystallised ginger and orange, it’s time to ring in the holiday season with this twice baked Italian cookie! Makes 25-30

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Ingredients:

75g wholewheat flour
40g buckwheat flour
50g oats
30g cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
75g dark chocolate
75g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
2 eggs
125g brown sugar
1tp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
50g walnuts, roasted, chopped
15g crystallised ginger,chopped
25g dried cranberries, chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C
Place wholewheat flour, buckwheat flour, oats, coco powder, baking powder, pinch salt and dark chocolate in bowl of food processor and pulse to fine mix.
Add the butter and pulse at high speed again. Reserve.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, brown sugar, almond extract and orange rind till fluffy, one minute.
Fold in the dry mix with the walnuts, ginger and cranberries. Form into 2 logs and bake for 30 minute
Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice with a sharp knife.
Lay flat on sides on the baking tray, and bake again at 150C for 30 minutes.

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Don’t miss a post Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Wholewheat Cocoa Almond Biscotti #comfortfood #biscotti #chocolate

“Comfort food, food that reassures, is different things to different people.”
David Tanis

Wholewheat Cocoa Almond Biscotti … what can be better than a crisp chocolatey cookie on a rainy day. Twice baked, studded with roasted almonds and chocolaty to boot. There’s something strangely comforting about this twice baked Italian cookie, not least that it is low on fat. This version is wholegrain and delicious!

It was time for Mr PAB to travel, and as is customary to carry some cookies with him, it was time to bake! Biscotti’s been on my mind of late. It’s been raining quite a bit; delayed monsoons and what have you. The weather seems perfect for biscotti and some nice deep coffee. So a batch was baked. Some for him, some for us!

You might have noticed fewer desserts popping up here. Yes, that’s happened too. With the daughter away to uni, the demand has ‘fallen’. The son for some good reason is counting calories these days. Salads and stir fries are in, so are smoothies and fruits! The cakes and sweet treats are few and far between! Is good. I kinda like it.

[print_this]Recipe: Wholewheat Cocoa Almond Biscotti

Summary: Wholewheat Cocoa Almond Biscotti … what’s not to love about a crisp twice baked chocolate cookie. This is a wholegrain healthy version with roasted almonds. You could use toasted walnuts instead and make a brownie biscotti! Use a good-quality cocoa powder as that really makes the difference to how deeply chocolaty the biscotti will be. Makes 30-35 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:

120g wholewheat flour
65g plain flour
65g cocoa powder
3/4t baking soda
1/4t salt
65g unsalted butter
3 eggs
175g brown sugar
1 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely-chopped

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake a cookie sheet with baking parchment.
Place the flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly to mix
Add cubed chilled butter. Process briefly until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
With the machine running on low, add the eggs and process until the mixture begins to clump together.
Turn into a big bowl, add the almonds, mix well and then bring the dough together into a 2 firm halves.
Turn onto work surface and shape into 2 logs, pressing firmly together.
Transfer to prepared cookie tray, and bake for 25 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly, about 15-25 minutes.
Slice and place sides down on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.
Cool completely and store in an airtight box.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Baking | Wholegrain GF Amaranth Brownie Biscotti … #bloggerstuesday #hbg #glutenfree #cookie

“Bake with love…”
Manuela Kjeilen

Wholegrain GF Amaranth Brownie Biscotti. Today I have one of my favourite recipes for you. I developed this for my better half who is trying to stay gluten free and loves biscotti. I shot it in a hurry as he was leaving for HKG and loves to carry ‘the taste of home’ with him.

I am super inspired with whole grain baking and still can’t figure out why plain flour formed my first few years of baking. It’s never too late to shift gear though. I did, and happily so. My baking now is mostly whole grain and I am LOVING it. You will find oats, amaranth, wholewheat, nut meals in my recipes.My other love, fruit, finds a lot of place in my blog too. I have also now shifted to using raw sugar, honey and brown mineral sugar in the kitchen, and sometimes natural fruit substitutes a part of the sugar. I hope I have inspired you to shift gears a little too. Do ‘think out of the box’, push your boundaries and always stay inspired!

This post is headed for Bloggers Tuesday at Home Bakers Guild.

[print_this]Recipe:Wholegrain GF Amaranth Brownie Biscotti

Summary: Deep, dark, comforting … all the goodness that biscotti promises to be in this gluten free avatar. Wholegrain GF Amaranth Brownie Biscotti offers a gluten free alternative to this delicious twice baked Italian classic cookie.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:

70g amaranth flour
25g rice flour
40g almond meal
30g cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
75g dark chocolate chips
50g walnuts, roasted, chopped
2eggs
100g butter
100g brown sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a small bowl, whisk together the amaranth flour, rice flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and toss well to mix. Reserve.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients from the reserved bowl and bring together with your hands to make a firm dough.
Divide the dough in half. On a lightly oiled surface, pat one half together firmly and roll into a log. Flatten gently. Repeat with the other half.
Transfer the logs gently onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart, brush with the reserved egg white, and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 25 minutes, until the dough feels firm to the touch. {Keep a close eye as the oven is quite hot and the chocolate can burn}
Remove pan from the oven and cool 5 minutes. On a cutting board, use a serrated knife to diagonally cut the cookies into 1/2-inches slices.
Reduce heat to 150C. Lay the cookies cut side down on baking sheets and return to the oven for 35 minutes {or more if you like your biscotti crisper}, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

Baking| Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
Albert Schweitzer

These are cookies born out of thankfulness, inspiration and amazement at the constant love I receive from readers of my blog. This Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti is the delicious result of the cocoa that Sheetal mailed to me a few days ago. The package had things I love – stuff to bake with … muscovado sugar {my first bag ever}, baking chocolate and cocoa powder. Sheetal said she really hoped I would bake something with the stuff she sent me. … and promised to make the same at home far away! Might as well keep you busy Sheetal, so if you are done with the tart, here’s the next bake!I left the contents of the parcel on my table and looked at them every morning feeling a strange sense of inspiration and desire to bake. The muscovado sugar was the first bit I used, out of curiosity, in this absolutely divine Vanilla Plum Frangipane Tart. The muscovado made the frangipane earthy and different, pairing beautifully with the plums!The success of the Plum Frangipane Tart adventure inspired me to think cocoa. As the dieting diva is still swinging back and forth on her yo-yo diet {as I call it} I thought I’d do some biscotti! It’s been ages since I made some, and this time I adapted a David Lebovitz recipe of Chocolate Almond Biscotti that I had made earlier.Substituted some plain flour with whole wheat, and made the firm cookie like dough in my Thermomix. Reduced the sugar a bit, and I think I could further reduce it a little more the next time. The end result was wonderful; the whole wheat not taking any yumminess. Toasted almonds and chocolate chips do make for delicious biscotti. The teen and pre-teen were seeing visiting the cookie jar quite often while the cookies lasted!The Valrhona I used in my earlier biscotti, coincidentally was a gift from a sweet foodie blogger, Shayma @ The Spice Spoon. Hintz was what I used here, and it made this twice baked Italian cookie absolutely addictive. Do remember to use good quality cocoa.

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Recipe: Chocolate Almond Olive Oil & Whole Wheat Biscotti

Summary:An already healthy Italian cookie, made even healthier with the use of some whole wheat flour. Adapted minimally from David Lebovitz, this is an addictive biscotti for the cookie jar. Makes 30-35 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cups top-quality cocoa powder {I used Hintz}
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 small eggs, at room temperature
1/8 cup extra light olive oil
3/4 cup vanilla sugar, or plain granulated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional}
1 cup almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
3/4 cups chocolate chips {I used dark}
For the glaze
1 egg white
1 sachet vanilla sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, olive oil, sugar, vanilla beans and vanilla extract. {Thermomix: Speed 4 / 7-8 seconds}
Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the toasted chopped almonds and chocolate chips in the till well incorporated, and the cookie dough comes together. {Thermomix: Add the dry ingredients : Speed 3 / 10 seconds. If the dough is too firm, turn into a large bowl and add the nuts and chocolate chips. Mix to incorporate. Else, Reverse Speed 2 / 15 seconds}.
Divide the dough into half, and form into logs using slightly damp hands. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Bake for 25 minutes or until the dough feels firm. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.
Slice and place sides down on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.
Cool completely and store in an airtight box.

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This recipe featured on Huffington Post – Dark Chocolate Recipes

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

COFFEE and ROASTED ALMOND BISCOTTI…a handsome combination!

“I am not a glutton, I am an explorer of food”

Erma Bombeck

Coffee & Roasted Almonds…a handsome combination

I have my biscotti moments…at times, I will suddenly alight & set off to make a biscotti with a ‘flavour of the moment‘ off the top of my head. This particular moments’ flavour turned out to be coffee & roasted almonds.

A delicious, crisp biscotti!

I made these some time ago, & am tempted to set off & bake some now…only problem being that I’ve cut a nerve in the palm of my right hand & am incapacitated as far as baking/cooking goes. Which leaves me with very little to do; torturous, but my own fault. Was careless & got a shard of broken ceramic do the damage…:0(

Biscotti date to Ancient times. The term literally means “twice baked.” These hard biscuits fueled armies and fed travelers. Flavor variations and culinary techniques evolved according to time and place. German zweiback, Jewish mandelbrot, British ship’s biscuit, and American hardtack are similar in purpose and method.

Ingredients:
Granulated sugar – 2/3 cup
Olive Oil – ¼ cup (or canola oil; I used olive)
Eggs – 2
Vanilla extract – 2 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Salt -1/8 tsp
Flour – 1 1/4 cups

Whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
Instant Coffee Powder – 2 tbsps
Almonds– 1 cup/roasted & roughly chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat sheets.
Sift the flours + salt + baking powder.
Beat the olive oil with the sugar.
Add the vanilla extract + eggs + coffee & beat well.
Stir in the flour mix; & gently turn the almonds into the dough. Mix in.
Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into 2 logs, about 12” X 3 ½”. The dough is sticky, so you may have to dampen your hands to form the log.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until firm to the touch & light golden brown.
Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.
Transfer the log gently to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 2 cm slices with a sharp serrated knife.
Reduce oven temperature to 135 degrees C. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 8 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 20 – 24 biscotti
Note: Roast the almonds at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes, till the skin begins to crack open. Allow to cool, & then chop. Roasting brings out the sweetness & flavour in almonds. Can be done in advance.

This is a healthier version of the biscotti which I normally make. Have substituted some of the plain flour for whole-wheat flour & was quite pleased to see the kids enjoy them as much as we did. It’s always a good idea to gradually substitute plain flour with a portion of whole-wheat flour to increase the nutritive value…these are good, healthy cookies with no butter. Made with olive oil & full of nuts, they’re headed for Ivy @ Kopiaste & Ben @ What’s Cooking US for an event we can’t do without…Fat Chefs or Skinny Gourmets? (an event co-hosted by 2 of my fave bloggers). The call is to make something that you consider Diet Food for its nutritious value (high in vitamins and other nutrients and low in calories). I think we all need a little nibble at tea & this quite fits the bill!

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