Spicy Gingerbread Biscotti

By sonia January 9, 2014 +Recipes, Cookies

THE FIRST THING I DO (after kicking off my shoes), is collapse on the floor enveloping Luke in a big loud hug. He’s usually thrown off guard for a few seconds, but once he realizes it is indeed the one and only me, back from Neverland, demands his ritual oh-hello-after-a-long-time ear rub, shoving his nose into my legs. He’s grayer and cuter than ever.

WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN? he asks.

Home. There is no greater feeling of comfort than walking in those doors after being away for a while.

The carpet is fluffy just how I remember, the walls grin with stories of when my brothers and I used to surf down the staircase on our mattresses, and the backyard is overflowing with fresh mini tangerines, tomatoes, guavas, and more. The water pressure in the shower is just fantastic. Life is great. My measuring spoons are ready to roll.

Let the games begin!

—

Biscotti – a.k.a. Italy’s toasted cookies. First you bake them. Then you toast them.

Biscotti are a staple in our cookie jar. They come in handy all the time when friends drop in for coffee. Not to mention, they are wholesome. In my house, we be sure to use whole-wheat pastry flour and natural sugars. So we feel pretty good about eating ~~the whole jar~~ a few.

Recipe: Spicy Gingerbread Biscotti

Summary: Sweet and snappy, spicy, nutty, mmm I love everything about those warm flavors together. In fact, when I think of holidays, the aroma of gingerbread is the first thing that pops into my nose. So cheers to gingerbread, cheers to the holidays, cheers to home! Recipe adapted from the New York Times.

Ingredients

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 tbsp coconut oil (or Canola)
1 cup pecans toasted and chopped

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine whole-wheat pastry flour, almond flour, baking powder, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, combine together sugar, molasses, and oil. Slowly add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
In gradual increments, at your flour mixture to the wet mixture, until all is well combined.
Stir in toasted pecans. Batter should be rather stiff.
On a well-floured surface, knead the cookie dough and divide in half. Roll out each piece into a log-like shape, measuring approximately 12 inches x 2 inches.
Place both logs onto your cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for 20 mins at 350 degrees F, or until the logs are lightly browned at the edges.
Let cool for 10 minutes.
Slice each log diagonally into small pieces. Now it starts to look like biscotti!
Place each cookie face up, back onto the cookie sheet for a second round of toasting.
Bake in the oven at 300 degrees F for 7-10 minutes on each side, or until your biscotti are nice and crunchy.
Make a cuppa chai and dip!