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Last year I scoured the face of London to find wheat free biscotti / aka cantucci or cantuccini. You know, the hard, crunchy Italian bisciuts that look like little rusks or crusts of bread. You dip them in sweet wine as a dessert (though I also dip them in coffee, herb tea, hot choc, etc *LOL*). I knew they would be easy to make & I asked for recipes to no avail, but in the end I never got round to it. This year I did & they were SOOO easy. So, as they are not especially a Christmas thing (though I associate them as such, though also with vacations in Florence), here goes. You can always save the recipe if it appeals, or make them for an eveyday thing. Note the term biscotti means cooked twice so don't forget to read the last part of the recipe!! The recipe called for twice the quantities & a liquer called frangelico which I think is almond. I had none & just glugged a little vin santo (the sweet wine you dip them in) but in truth it needs neither. Or you could make them lemony with limoncello & add lemon zest. 2 cups rye flour (recipe says all-purpose four (UK = plain flour)) & I may well have used half rice. 1 cup sugar (could use less) 1 tsp baking powder (I used my home-made) 3 large eggs or equivalent egg replacers 2 tbsp of whatever liqueur or liquid you want (could be a milk of your choice if not for festive purpose) 1tsp vanilla extract 1tsp almond extract (I didn't have any - none the worse) 1 cup chopped nuts (should be almonds or hazelnuts, I used whatever I had, incl walnuts & pine kernels, as I was low on almonds & hazel & I didn't chop them either!!). You could use less if you wanted but hey're part of what amkes the things special IMO. Preheat oven to 350F, 180C, gas 4 Mix dry ingredients except nuts, in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix liquids (including eggs or egg replacers). Mix liquids into dry ingredients until dough is stiff. Do not overmix . Stir in the nuts. Sape the dough into one or two flattish logs 3" wide and about 15" long. I warn you mine spread out but was fine. Place on greased / gheed/ butterred cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven, allow to cool to touch. Using a bread knife, slice the log on the diagonal into 3/4" slices. Place back on cookie sheet (actually I needed two sheets now), *side down*. Bake agin for 15 minutes, turning slices at half-way point, until golden brown. I got about 20 or 25 biscotti out of this. Happy baking!
-------------------- 40 yrs old woman, A2 MN secretor, presently challenged by secondary breast cancer, lives in UK, married, 7 yr old son. Posts: 1288 | From: London, UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Copyright 1998-2004 Thomas Dekany. All Rights Reserved. Material presented for information purposes only and should not be construed to replace the services of a physician.
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