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…
Tropical Biscotti
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.
