Almond biscotti

Here's a recipe that I've made a few times already this year and didn't write it up until now. Good for snacking, potlucks, gift giving, etc. Not that healthy but better than what you can buy at the store.

The Foodening Blog - almond biscotti ready for eating

Ingredients

4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c raw almonds (or unsalted roasted almonds)
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. organic cane sugar
1 c. unrefined coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. Reserve 1/2 c flour. Sift dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt).

2. Whisk eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, sugar together

3. In skillet, toast raw almonds until the almonds have changed color (darker brown) but not so long that the almonds burn. Skip this step if using pre-roasted almonds.

4. Coarsely chop almonds and combine with 1/2 c. flour. Stir to combine.

5. On a normal day, the coconut oil will be solid. Heat the coconut oil in a small pan over low-medium heat until melted. Let cool to room temperature before adding to the dough.

6. Mix everything together.

Shaping and baking. The dough will spread somewhat during its first bake session, leave at least two inches between bars of dough. This is ok. After the first bake, simply use a sharp edged knife or pastry knife to separate the logs.

The Foodening Blog - biscotti dough after the first bake

Bake at 340 F for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven. Slice loaves diagonally into 3/4" to 1" pieces. Then place cut side up onto the baking tray.

Bake at 330 F for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned.

A note on the coconut oil: Using unrefined coconut oil passes a coconut flavor to the cookies.

Nut and Seed Bread (no sugar, no flour)

This comes out looking and tasting like a very dense, protein-rich bread. It is held together by the emulsion power of the ground flax seeds and eggs in the dough. With a food processor and seed grinder, this "bread" is really easy to prepare. You don't even need a special seed grinder to mill the flax into a flour, just use an electric coffee bean grinder. A decent one will run you about $15.

This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.

Ingredients

1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.

1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.

4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.