Once-baked Biscotti

I want to help you get ready for Super Bowl XLVIII.

I want you to easily make lots of this to take to where you will be watching the game.

I want you to bake something only once!

I want you to transport this offering with no worry (even if you have to brake hard along the way and everything slides forward).

I want you to have something that freezes well because you will have more than you need for the SB.

I want you to play a bit with your food.

This is what I want for you.

This biscotti recipe is so very easy and makes so very many.  If you like dessert as much as I do, then I must share what we both know:  The bonus about being drawn to small indulgences like cookies, bars, candy, etc. is that there is enough for the event and enough to freeze for later.  Heads up...I rarely bake without myself in mind (sorry if that sounds a bit selfish).

What is remarkable about these biscotti is that I only baked them once!  Their small size accounts for the ability to crisp up.

I used a bar of Lindt Dark Chili Chocolate in the dough (finely chopped) and the same on some of the bottoms (melted).

Also, I rolled the biscotti dough into thin logs, refrigerated them, and then cut them into dozens of pieces in no time. Pre-baking decorations were multi-colored jimmies and coarse sugar.  After baking, I dipped some of the bottoms into the leftover, melted Lindt chocolate.

Pay no attention to the amount of sweetened shredded coconut in this recipe.  Its contribution is texture and crispness.  The biscotti neither taste of coconut nor are they cloyingly sweet.  Any lingering finish belongs to the chili chocolate speaking gently to you.

Recipe for Bunch of Biscotti
adapted from Martha Stewart's Biscotti Bites
Yield:  over 100 bite-sized cookies

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4/ cups cornmeal
3/4 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons citrus zest (I used zest from one Minneola orange)
One 3.5 ounce bar of Chili Chocolate
Coarse sugar and jimmies for decorating

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.
2.  In a bowl, whisk together self-rising flour and cornmeal.  Set aside.
3.  Beat butter in a mixer on medium until smooth.  Add sugar and continue mixing until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
5.  Add flour mixture, lower the speed, and beat until combined.
6.  Beat in coconut, zest, and 2 ounces of the chopped chocolate until evenly mixed.  The dough will be sticky.
7.  Flour a surface, and taking a handful of the dough, roll the dough into logs about one inch in diameter.  The length of the log and how many logs you make will depend upon how much dough you pick up.  I had about 8 or 9 logs. Continue in this manner until all the dough is used.
8. Set the logs on saran wrap and roll up.  I tried to roll more than one log into a piece of saran.
9. Refrigerate for an least 30 minutes and longer if you want.  (I made biscotti from logs that were in the refrigerator for two days!)
10.  Take a log(s) from the refrigerator and unwrap.  Use a knife to cut one-inch sections along the length of the log.  Press one of the cut sides into sugar or jimmies and then set onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, each piece about an inch apart.
11.  Bake, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through, until golden, around 18-20 minutes.  Let cool completely on baking sheet set on a wire rack.
12.  Gently melt the remaining chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave.  Dip the bottoms of cooled biscotti in chocolate, scraping off excess with a knife, and setting on parchment paper to harden.

Fig Newtons Just Got Better

Glad you came back to see what's going on in my kitchen.  I know that I jumped into this food blog without so much as an introduction, but that's not a surprise to those of you who know me.  My plans are to be on this journey for a long time, so we will have plenty of time to get to know each other and self-disclose from time to time.

It all started here.  That conversation.  About this cookie.

My husband and I were xc skiing in northern New York two weekends ago.  Tunturi Tupa, the cabin pictured above, is where we stayed.  The cabin was very cozy and private.  We loved skiing and then returning to Tunturi to prepare a meal or warm up.  Since it was just the two of us, we engaged in lots of conversation (as usual).  Reminiscing about cookies we ate as kids, we got caught up with a cookie that goes way back.  Do you know that small, somewhat squarish, flat biscuit wrapped around a fig center that's not too sweet?  Yep!  The Fig Newton.  Well, this was a cookie that neither of us liked so much back then.  Why?  We both remembered the cookie-part as being too dry. Granted, this identical assessment of two youngsters (who hadn't yet met) has no scientific corroboration, and I'll admit that we haven't had a current Newton (new name, btw).  So who knows what's become of that biscuit's nature?

Not to worry.  Recently, I came upon a recipe for an Italian Jam Shortbread Tart (Fregolotta) here.  I was fascinated by the fruit sandwiched between shortbread, but also by what I found out about fregolotta.  This Italian cookie is meant to be broken up and dunked in coffee or a glass of wine.  No doubt its crunch comes from the addition of cornmeal to the dough.

Here's what I did:  I substituted fig preserves (and more of it) for the apricot jam, and I increased the crisp factor by taking away some of the ap flour and replacing with cornmeal!  FNJGB! No kidding!

Fig Newtons Just Got Better

12 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour                  

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup fig preserves
1/3 cup sliced natural almonds

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350º F. Have your oven rack in the center.  Place the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with its paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until mixture is very light in color, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Add the almond extract and blend well, say 30 seconds.

2.  To this butter mixture add the flour, cornmeal, and salt.  Mix on low speed until thoroughly combined, around 30 seconds.  Measure out 1/2 cup of this dough and put the measuring cup (with dough) into the refrigerator to chill.  This will make it easier to crumble on top of the tart.

3.  Press the remaining dough into a 9 or 9 1/2-inch tart part in an even layer.  I used an offset spatula to smooth out the dough by starting at an outer edge and pressing the dough down as I moved the spatula towards the center of the tart.  This provided a pretty scalloped edge.

4.  Spread the preserves evenly onto the surface of the dough, leaving a border of about an inch.

5.  Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it into small pieces over the preserves.  Then sprinkle the almonds over the top of the tart.

6.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.  If using a conventional oven, the tart may need to be baked for 40 to 50 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely on a rack.  If your tart pan has a removable bottom, place the entire tart on a can, helping to balance it with your hands.  The rim of the tart pan should fall to the counter.  Cut wedges straight from the pan bottom.  The tart exhibits a crispy, yet tender shortbread, fruity lusciousness, and a spot-on almond crunch! Though it stores well, wrapped in foil or saran for a few days at room temperature, mine didn't last that long.

It doesn't end here.  That conversation.  About this cookie.  Let me know what you think of the recipe and how it works out for you.

A Duo of 'Cellos

I have enjoyed a love of baking for quite some time now.  If pressed, I would admit to an interest that spans a couple of decades (give or take), but frankly it's taken me that long to gather the confidence to go public. Hence the blog's subtitle (thank you, Eleanor Roosevelt). 

You probably don't want to read about one more holiday cookie, bar, pie, or cake recipe. You've eaten your fill of buttery and sugared cookie dough, right?  Your calendar did a great job reminding you of everywhere you had to go to celebrate December.  And politeness dictated that you sampled a bit of everything at each and every gathering, right?  Well, not to worry… January arrived and all of this indulging will go away…until…

The end of January!  If you get started, one or the other 'Cello recipe will be ready for consumption towards the end of the month, but certainly (if you delay) by Valentine's Day!  These citrus-y liqueurs are bright and bold.  Visually, the colors are impressive.  Serve chilled (we keep a small container in the freezer), perhaps with your feet up.  Mixed with a bit of tonic or sparkling water, they are a more gentle digestif.  They make wonderful gifts. 

LemonCello Recipe 
adapted from What's Cooking in America?

Ingredients

12 medium lemons

1- 750ml bottle of grain alcohol (like Everclear)

5 cups of water

5 cups of sugar

Clean the lemons under running water to remove any debris.

Using a vegetable peeler, take off the rinds, trying not to remove any of the white pith.

Place the grain alcohol and rinds into a glass container which will hold both.  

Cover and let steep for one week (I let it go for 2 weeks).  

When the week is up, make the simple syrup by stirring the water and sugar together into a saucepan over medium heat.  Let cool.  Strain out the alcohol from the rinds.  Combine the cooled syrup with the alcohol mixture.  Done!

LimeCello Recipe

Use 12 medium limes (instead of the lemons) and proceed as above.

CranCello Recipe?
What about another improv using cranberries!  Stay tuned...