Is that the weekend I hear calling?

Hi foodie friends, I can’t even believe it’s Thursday. Where has the week gone? One thing’s for sure, it’s happy Friday tomorrow! Things start to slow down a little, the excitement for the weekend grows and you look forward to a little downtime… unless you work weekends, or you’re an adrenalin junky, in which case you’re looking forward to the complete opposite weekend from mine 🙂

My younger son and I have a little Friday morning tradition. On the way to school drop off, we have a chant… “It’s Friiiiiiiiday!” and then after school at pickup… “It’s the weeeeeekend!”. Sounds weird now that I see this in print…but it’s super cute, in my opinion.

I like my coffee crisp… or at least the snack I have with my coffee!

Last week our posts were all about smoking (food). For this post we’re crossing over to the sweeter side. A couple of weeks ago I was having a late night espresso, maybe a little later than I should have (wired!). I craved a snack to go with it. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything on hand that would go nicely with the coffee. It’s funny the things that sometimes inspire my recipe/menu choices. I decided a biscotti would have been a nice treat with my espresso so I set out to develop my own biscotti recipe.

It doesn’t always work!

Our friends sometimes make comments like, “you really know what you’re doing in the kitchen”. This always makes me smile a little. I’m comfortable in the kitchen and my recipe development often works out well, but with no formal training, things sometimes go flat in the kitchen…it’s just that you don’t see the ones that don’t make the cut. I’m going to guess that our fellow food bloggers know what I’m talking about here.

That was totally the case for this recipe. My first attempt did not go well. Although the final product tasted good, it was a little under cooked and looked more like sliced bread than biscotti 🙂 I knew I had achieved the flavour I wanted, but I needed to adjust the process and the timing. This attempt was much better and we’re very happy with the results. Now I have the perfect snack for my coffee!

Don’t be afraid of making some mistakes in the kitchen–that’s how we learn. However, avoid big mistakes that involve open flames–those lessons are no fun. Try something new today, and always eat well, friends.

Almond Maple Cinnamon Biscotti Recipe

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

41 mins

Total time

56 mins

 

These almond Maple cinnamon biscotti are crunchy on the outside and and tender on the inside. They're not overly sweet! What better snack to enjoy with your favourite coffee or tea?

Author: Nelson Cardoso

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 35 pieces

Ingredients

• 3 cups unbleached flour (all-purpose flour will work as well)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup (packed) brown sugar
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ cup of butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup slivered almons

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
3. in a large stand mixer bowl, cream together the sugar, maple syrup and butter together on medium high.
4. Lower the stand mixer to medium speed.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time and continue to beat until well incorporated.
6. Add vanilla.
7. Slow the stand mixer to medium low and add the dry mix to the stand mixer bowl.
8. Mix for 2 minutes.
9. You should now have a ball of dough similar to cookie dough.
10. Add the almonds and continue to mix for about a minute.
11. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
12. Pour the dough out onto a floured counter top or large cutting board.
13. Divide the dough in half.
14. Lightly flour your hands and shape/roll the first piece of dough into a log shape, 14 to 15 inches long (36 cm).
15. Repeat the same for the second piece of dough.
16. Place the dough logs on the parchment paper, side by side and push down lightly to flatten the bottom of the log a little.The top should remain a little rounded.
17. Each dough log should be roughly ¾ inch (2 cm) tall.
18. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
19. Remove the tray from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
20. Carefully cut the logs diagonally into ¾ inch (2 cm) slices. They should look like half moons.
21. Place the cut pieces back on the lined cookie sheet (no need to replace the parchment paper) on one of the sides.
22. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake for 8 minutes.
23. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and flip over the biscotti pieces onto the other side using tongs to avoid burning your fingers.
24. Remove the biscotti from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes and then move them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
25. Enjoy with your favourite coffee or tea!

Notes

The top may crack a little after coming out of the oven the first time. This is okay and expected.

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