I’m not sure what to start with, so I guess I’ll just say hello. It’s been a while. Life had kept me busy, blogging has been on my mind, and I’ve finally found the time to start it up again. So if you’ve been following me for a while, and you’re back here reading this post, thank you! I’ll give a quick life update and then go on to the real reason we’re here, the food. If you remember, I had a 5 year old girl, Mimi, and a newborn boy, EE. They’ve now grown up to a 7 year old and a 5 year old, and we welcomed a baby girl 2 years ago, baby Ru. We’ve also moved to a new house, I quit my part-time job and my husband increased his work hours. Like I said, we’ve been busy! But it’s good to be back!
And now to the recipe. I love North African flavors, so I added them to a simple biscotti recipe. You’ll notice that I didn’t add extract of any kind. The reason I skip that is because I feel like it always over powers the dish, no matter how little I add, so I prefer to skip it. Feel free to add almond or vanilla extract though.
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After adding the flour, do not over mix |
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Shape into logs |
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Bake and then remove |
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Cut and return to oven |
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Done when golden brown |
North African Biscotti
Serving Size = 20+
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons anise seed, ground
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, ground
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds or walnuts
- Move rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the salt, baking powder, flour and cornmeal.
- With a stand mixer and paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until very smooth (a hand mixer would work as well). Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for another 2 minutes, making sure to scrape the bowl. Add the ground anise and fennel.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients and the nuts, mixing only until incorporated.
- Divide the mixture in half, creating two 12 x 1 1/2 inch logs. The dough is sticky and the logs will be uneven.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden, but still soft and springy when touched.
- Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack for 30 minutes.
- Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut across the logs to create short biscotti that are 3/4 inch pieces. Return the pieces to the baking sheet, standing them up on their short side and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden and firm.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and then serve.