Eggless Almond Cranberry Wheat Biscotti

Biscotti which means “twice cooked” in English is an Italian biscuit. Its also called “Cantucci”. It’s primarily made of flour, eggs, sugar and nuts. Eggs help to bind the dough together. These biscuits are baked twice making them dry and crunchy, hence ideal for storing for a longer duration and

useful during long journeys. You can add nuts like almonds walnuts, pine nuts, pecan nuts and dried fruits like cranberries, raisins, black currants for that added flavour.

As is the case with most recipes of mine, this too is eggless. I have used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour making it more healthy. The organic cane sugar gives it a beautiful earthy flavour, ofcourse making it a bit darker in colour than a traditional Biscotti. I admit that my Biscotti has over browned a bit in my first bake. Please be careful and watchful after 15-16 minutes.

These are crunchy and gives a beautiful bite each time you bite into it. They are just mildly sweet (infact I might reduce the sugar by a tablespoon in my next attempt). I love the crunch of the almonds and the tanginess of the cranberries. Perfect to dunk in your morning or evening tea or coffee 🙂 It’s a bit tricky to make such recipes into eggless ones. You will learn with each trial. Stay tuned for some more Biscotti recipes coming your way. Next I shall use some flax gel and see the outcome. Substituting oil with butter will also make a difference. Also, on hindsight, I feel that my dough was not sticky like the usual biscotti dough. It was a tad bit dry. I shall work on it and update the blog. My cup size is 240 ml.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour 125 gm
• Milk powder 2 tbsp
• Salt a pinch
• Cane sugar 1/4 cup
• Almonds 1/4 cup
• Cranberries 1/4 cup
• Baking powder 1/2 tsp
• Curd 3 tbsp
• Flavourless oil 1/4 cup
• Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Sift the flour, milk powder, salt and baking powder 2-3 times.
• Whisk the sugar and oil till the sugar dissolves.
• Add curd, vanilla extract and mix well.
• Slowly add the flour and combine gently.
• Throw in the chopped almonds and cranberries and form a dough. ( I prefer to chop the almonds and cranberries into small bits)

• Allow the dough to rest for around ten minutes.

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven at 170-180 degree Celsius for ten minutes.
• Shape the dough into a log and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
• Wet your hands slightly and flatten it to a log of width of around 2-3 inches and twelve inches long.

• Bake the biscottis for around 20-25 minutes or till the top looks firm. Do not overbake them.
• Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes.
• Slice it diagonally using a sharp serrated knife into pieces of half inch thickness.
• Place it on the baking sheet with the cut side down and bake it again for 8-10 minutes.

• Flip the side and bake the other side too for 6-8 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack till its cooled completely.
• Store in airtight containers.
• Dunk it in tea or coffee and enjoy.

Notes:

• Make sure your dough is not too dry. Add a table spoon of milk if it looks too dry.
• Allow the baked dough to cool for atleast 15 minutes before you slice them. Or else it will crumble.
• Also don’t let it harden too much before slicing.
• Remember to use a sharp and serrated knife.