biscotti

Wild Blueberry Lemon Biscotti

August 5, 2017 by Marisa 29 Comments

These Wild Blueberry Lemon Biscotti get a lovely lemony kick from both the lemon zest and one of Italy’s favourite liqueur, Limoncello.

They’re studded with dried wild blueberries and pure white chocolate chips then drizzled with more melted white chocolate for some extra sweetness in every bite.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you’ll probably know quite well my love affair with biscotti. Not only are they extremely easy to make and perfect for a novice baker, you can mix and match different flavours and ingredients to suit your tastes.

They are also far lower in fat than other traditional cookies and keep extremely well in an air tight container for a week or so. Although at my house they disappear ever so quickly!

Furthermore, they make perfect little dunkers for a morning cup of freshly brewed coffee or a hot cup of tea to while away a lazy afternoon. Or better yet, these lemon scented biscotti make a lovely accompaniment to scoops of lemon granita. A delicious pairing for these wilting days of summer.

Similarly to my Chocolate Anise Biscotti, these are light and airy with a tender bite and extremely tooth friendly. Unless you happen to be a certain 11 year old boy entering a tooth transition period. Désolé Guillaume, j’espère que la fée des dents a fait preuve de grande générosité…sorry Guillaume, I truly hope the tooth fairy was quite generous with you!

The lemon zest coupled with the Limoncello liqueur imparts a lovely infusion of citrus flavor and accentuates the sweetness of the blueberries. However, you can absolutely replace the liqueur with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Although delicious all on their own, try drizzling some melted white chocolate for some extra love. But really its totally optional!

A note on Vanilla Sugar

My intent was to use regular granulated sugar as I normally do when making biscotti. I then remembered the jar of vanilla sugar way back in my pantry. As I slowly popped the lid a heady scent of sweet vanilla permeated the air around me and I knew at that moment that I simply had to use it in my Wild Blueberry Lemon Biscotti recipe. The aroma of homemade vanilla sugar is absolutely heavenly!

While you can use the store bought variety nothing ever beats homemade in my opinion.

Therefore with only two ingredients and five minutes of prep time you simply must try your own Vanilla Sugar. …and then bake some biscotti of course!

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Wild Blueberry Lemon Biscotti

Wild Blueberry Lemon Biscotti, scented with one of Italy's favorite liqueur, Limoncello. Packed with wild dried blueberries, white chocolate chips and then drizzled with more melted chocolate for some extra sweetness in every bite.

Course: Biscotti

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: biscotti, lemon biscotti, wild blueberry

Servings: dozen

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almonds finely ground
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt I used fine sea salt
3/4 cup dried wild blueberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup vanilla sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
zest of 1 large lemon about 1 heaping tablespoon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of Limoncello liqueur you can substitute freshly squeezed lemon juice
lightly beaten egg white from one egg for brushing the logs
1/2 cup white chocolate melted (for drizzling)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl combine the all purpose flour, finely ground almonds, baking powder, salt, wild blueberries and chocolate chips.
Stir and set aside.
In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the vanilla sugar, melted butter, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract and Limoncello liqueur.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon till thoroughly combined.
Transfer the biscotti dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide in two.
Dust hands with flour and roll 1 portion at a time into a 12 inch log.
Transfer logs to prepared cookie sheet.
Brush each log with the beaten egg white.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer the logs one at a time to a cutting board and slice diagonally to about 3/4 inch pieces.
Place the sliced biscotti upright on the baking sheet and return to the oven to bake for an additional 15 minutes or till golden brown in color.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Melt 1/2 cup of white chocolate in microwave safe bowl then thin it with a little bit of vegetable oil for easy drizzling.
Drizzle the biscotti with the melted white chocolate and allow the chocolate to set before serving.

Chocolate Pine Nut Biscotti

December 9, 2016 by Marisa 32 Comments

Tender, elegant and sophisticated Chocolate Pine Nut Biscotti, studded with semi-sweet chocolate chunks and pine nuts and a generous sprinkle of turbinado sugar for some extra love.

If you have been following along for a while then you probably know by now how much I adore biscotti! There simply is no holiday or special occasion without at least one form or flavor of biscotti.

These Chocolate Pine Nut Biscotti are adapted from Anna Olsen’s cookbook “Another Cup Of Sugar” and have graced my holiday cookie platter for many years now and are everything I adore in a good biscotti! In my opinion they are the absolute “ultimate biscotti”.

For those not familiar with Anna Olsen, she is Canada’s Food Network star and one of the few shows I watch religiously

These biscotti are a far cry from the rock hard variety sold at most coffee shops as those are usually made without butter and are more suited for dunking in order to render edible.

What also sets them apart from the other varieties is that after the initial first bake of 30 minutes they are slightly cooled, sliced and returned to the oven with the oven turned off and allowed to dry out this way for an additional 30 minutes. So in fact they really only get one bake.

Most noteworthy here is that the cornmeal plays a large part in keeping the biscotti ever so tender.

There is much to adore about these biscotti! They are rich in butter and chocolate flavor, with a fudge like appearance when fresh out of the oven

Deliciously speckled with tender roasted pine nuts and chocolate chunks with a slight crunch from the cornmeal. A generous sprinkle of sugar crystals for a festive appeal and a lovely almond flavor coming through in every tender bite!

I love baking both variations and serving them together for a stunning display of biscotti bliss as they are truly a wonderful finale after a special meal.

Most enjoyable with a tall glass of milk or for a more grownup appeal serve them with a small glass of aged Porto as my hubby prefers! Or a big glass of Porto, whatever works for you…I will not judge 🙂

Ciao, happy baking and until the next cookie 🙂

SWITCH UP FOR THE PINE NUT BISCOTTI:

Follow recipe as indicated except omit the 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and replace it with all purpose flour. The total amount of all purpose flour will then be 3 1/3 cups of flour for the pine nut biscotti.

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Chocolate Pine Nut Biscotti

These rich and decadent Chocolate Pine Nut Biscotti have a tender texture and are the perfect finish to any elegant meal.

Course: Biscotti

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 1/2 dozen

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder I used dutch dark cocoa
1/3 cup durum semolina flour or fine corn meal
1/2 teaspoon fine salt I used fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups lightly toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips
1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons of water for egg wash (brushing over the unbaked logs)
turbinado sugar for sprinkling over the unbaked logs

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl cream together the butter with both sugars for a couple of minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs one at a time, until each is fully incorporated.
Stir in both the vanilla and almond extracts.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, durum semolina and the salt.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until blended. You will have a soft dough.
Stir in the pine nuts along with the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed.
Transfer the dough onto a floured work space and divide in two.
With floured hands roll out the dough into a 12 inch log and transfer to the prepared cookie sheet. (At this point, it helps to have the cookie sheet nearby for easy transfer)
Repeat with remaining half of dough.
The dough will spread during baking so make sure they are 2 inches apart.
Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the biscotti logs with the egg wash.
Sprinkle generously with the turbinado sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes and when ready the tops should feel firm to the touch.
Remove the biscotti from the oven and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet for about 15 to 20 minutes, because this will make them easier to slice.
Transfer the logs to a cutting board and slice each log, one at a time, into 1/2 inch slices.
Place the sliced biscotti upright on the baking sheet.
Return the cookie sheet to the oven and turn the oven off.
Keep in the oven for 30 minutes so that the biscotti slowly dry out as the oven cools off.

Notes

Recipe is adapted from "Another Cup of Sugar" by Anna Olsen

Chocolate Anise Biscotti

June 3, 2016 by Marisa 44 Comments

As promised from my last post, affectionately dubbed by friends overkill Affogato, these are my mini chocolate anise biscotti. Studded with dark chocolate chips, with the lovely scent from orange zest and the sweet flavors of both anise extract and ground anise. And, well just because I sometimes do not do things in small measures, I decided to coat them in dark melted chocolate. Get ready to be transported to biscotti heaven my lovelies!

The dark chocolate, orange zest and ground anise are a trifecta of aromatic flavors that work so well together. I just adore this combination in desserts and find they are simply perfect in this biscotti recipe.

Another thing I am really loving lately is testing out different flours in some of my favorite recipes. One in particular is almond flour, which is high in fiber and a great way to reduce carbohydrates in our diet. It’s nutty flavor and light texture makes it a perfect addition to these chocolate anise biscotti. I have also found that the addition of the almond flour rendered the biscotti much more tender. These are not the rock hard biscotti that will test the strength of one’s new dental work…!

I started off by substituting 1/4, 1/3 and finally 1/2 of all purpose flour with the almond flour and found that the 1/3 cup of almond flour worked best in this recipe. Everything I love about these little morsels are combined in these chocolate anise biscotti. Light and airy with a tender bite, also much lower in calories than most cookies.

Ground anise seeds have a licorice like sweet flavor very similar to star anise and interchangeable in recipes however do purchase them in small quantities as they tend to lose flavor after grinding.

They are really delicious on their own…and dunking them in a frothy cappuccino… will surely take you very quickly, up the stairway, to biscotti heaven!

I often bring a pretty jar of biscotti in to work and not only do they disappear very quickly there is always someone requesting the jar itself! Which reminds me, I should go now to purchase more biscotti jars!

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Chocolate Anise Biscotti

Mini tender chocolate chip biscotti bites. With the sweet scent of anise and grated orange zest and dipped in decadent dark chocolate.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: dozen

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup almond flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon ground anise seeds
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter melted
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure anise extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest from 1 very large orange
1 egg white lightly beaten for brushing the logs
1 cup dark chocolate chips melted (for dipping)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large bowl combine the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, ground anise seeds and chocolate chips. Stir and set aside.
In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, anise extract and the orange zest.
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined and a soft cookie dough has formed.
With a rubber spatula, scrape the cookie dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions
Roll 1 portion at a time into a 10 inch log.
Transfer logs to prepared cookie sheet.
Brush each log with the beaten egg whites. ( A pastry brush is really handy for this)
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Once slightly cooled, transfer the logs one at a time to a cutting board and slice diagonally about 3/4 inch pieces.
Return cookies to the cookie sheet, standing them upright for even baking, and return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Let cookies cool on wire rack.
Once cooled, dip the bottom flat end of biscotti into the melted chocolate.
Scrape excess chocolate with an offset spatula.
Place dipped biscotti upright on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Let stand till chocolate is set.

Notes

Melt chocolate in microwave, on high setting, in 30 second intervals.
For easier dipping, thin chocolate with a little vegetable oil and stir well.
Biscotti keep very well in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. However in my family they only last a few days.

Affogato

May 29, 2016 by Marisa 46 Comments

Affogato, in Italian literally translates to “drowned.” It is a classic Italian dessert!

One where hot meets cold and creates a luscious, dreamy concoction that is just perfect for those searingly hot and sticky days, such as the ones Montreal has been experiencing this past week.

The freshly brewed deep and rich aromas of my parents stove top coffee, always had me up and out of bed early when I was younger. Once seated at the table my mamma would serve me a bowl of my favorite cereals with milk and a little splash of her morning coffee. It certainly had me feeling all grown up. I suppose this is how my love of coffee began and still continues to this day.

A traditional affogato is served with one scoop of ice-cream and a shot of espresso. My version here is somewhat more indulgent. I initially wanted to make this a two ingredient recipe, however, I could not resist adding some of my freshly baked chocolate anise biscotti. To compliment the anise flavor of the biscotti, I added a shot of Sambuca. This makes for one very delicious and heavenly affogato!

To achieve the very best results, do use a good quality coffee and not the instant variety. It just will not do in this recipe! Also it bears mentioning to chill your serving glasses before scooping in the ice-cream and pouring in the coffee. Better yet, prepare ahead of time by placing 1 scoop of ice-cream in a freezer proof serving glass, sprinkle with crushed biscotti and top with another scoop of ice cream and place in your freezer. When ready to serve remove from freezer, pour warm coffee and the Sambuca over the ice-cream and sprinkle with more crushed biscotti.

This is one easy and super creamy Affogato! Try it, you will in love it…

What is your favorite coffee drink? I would love to hear from you!!

I have had quite a few recipes lined up for this month but it has been super busy these past few weeks as I have been catering platters of cookies for various occasions. As much as I enjoy baking for family and friends, I do miss my baby blog!

Coming soon is my Chocolate Anise Biscotti recipe so do come back!!

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Affogato

Affogato, a classic Italian coffee and ice-cream dessert, with a shot of Sambuca and sprinkled with crushed chocolate anise biscotti.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

4 generous scoops of vanilla ice-cream
4 ounces hot espresso coffee
2 ounces Sambuca
1/2 cup crushed biscotti (approximately)
2 chilled dessert glasses or cups

Instructions

Place 1 generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream in each well chilled dessert glass or cup.
Sprinkle each scoop with some crushed biscotti.
Top with a 2nd scoop of ice-cream.
Pour 2 ounces of hot espresso into each glass.
Pour 1 ounce of Sambuca into each glass and sprinkle with remaining crushed biscotti

Tropical Biscotti

January 26, 2016 by Marisa 45 Comments

I have been away from my blog for most of the month for a couple of reasons…but first let me share these deliciously simple tropical biscotti with you!

Last weekend we celebrated my beautiful, bright and vivacious daughter’s birthday. It was such a fun filled evening spent with close family members and only about 35 amazing friends of hers…lol.

She chose to organize her own birthday bash and did so very well I might add. From choosing the restaurant, the menu and the D.J. We dined on Moroccan food and danced the night away to a tropical themed birthday party.

She also opted out of a traditional birthday cake and instead requested mini vanilla cupcakes with a buttercream frosting and chocolate cream cheese cake pops, dipped in yellow candy melts.

Inspired by the tropical theme, I made dozens of the these light and crisp biscotti, studded with sweetened flaked coconut, diced crystallized pineapple and chopped roasted almonds. Truly wonderful flavors of the tropics in every bite!

These tropical biscotti are incredibly easy to make. No stand mixer is required. Just two bowls, one for stirring the dry ingredients and the other to whisk together the wet ingredients which are then combined together in one bowl to form the biscotti dough. Now, some might find rolling the dough into logs a bit tricky but what helps is having your work surface and hands dusted with flour. Also make sure your cookie sheet is ready and nearby to quickly transfer the rolled logs effortlessly and don’t worry if it is a less then perfect log because it will spread anyhow during the first baking.

I am often asked how to get ends that do not break off while slicing. First thing is that I only let them cool 15 minutes before slicing. This way they are still warm and more pliable to a sharp knife. Pointing the tip of the knife down and slicing in one fluid motion also works best for me and because these tropical biscotti are not the rock hard variety I do not use a serrated knife.

These tropical biscotti got rave reviews at my daughter’s birthday party! Although they will keep well in an airtight container for up to two weeks they will disappear oh so quickly!

Now, on a slightly different note. I embarked on this blogging journey one year ago, shortly after my mom passed away. It is a wonderful learning experience and I feel extremely blessed to share my space with the blogging community. However just this past summer my dad was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer which simply means a cancer that originated in the lungs and spread to other parts of the body. I mention this because I may not be able to share recipes as frequently as I wish to because his health is deteriorating.

But rest assured, I will be back as often as I can…

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Tropical Biscotti

A crisp and light biscotti with the sweet flavors of the tropics.

Course: Biscotti

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: pieces

Author: Marisa

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup roasted almonds coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup chopped crystallized pineapple
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
For brushing:
1 beaten egg white

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325*
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt with the chopped almonds, coconut and chopped pineapple pieces.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, egg, egg white and both extracts then stir into the flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
transfer the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide equally in half. With lightly floured hands roll each half into a log about 12 inches long . Transfer to the prepared cookie sheet. Brush the logs with the beaten egg white.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the logs are golden brown. Let the logs cool for 15 minutes.
Transfer the logs one at a time onto a cutting board and slice diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces.
Return the sliced biscotti to the baking tray, laying them upright. Place the tray back into the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes or just until they start to brown around the edges.
Let the biscotti cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They will keep for about two weeks.

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