fruit + nut biscotti

I’m just going to say it…… I have such a sweet tooth! But you probably already knew that with all the cakes, cookies and sweet things I love to make. Unfortunately for me my thighs don’t love all the baking I do. No they don’t. And I do have to go the gym to work off the sweet treats. So I was excited when I found this recipe for biscotti that is absolutely jam packed full of fruit and nuts. And it’s good for you too.

I’ve got to say this is a real winner. It’s been a really nice sweet treat to have with a cup of coffee or as I’m quickly dashing out of the house. I’ll just warn you though that you bake the biscuits first in big logs, then cool, then slice and bake again on each side. This is a seriously dangerous time to be in the kitchen. Warm cookies all sliced waiting to go back in the oven. I don’t know how they made their way into my mouth but they did!

500g (3 1/3 cups) plain flour

500g (2 1/3 cups) sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

5 eggs lightly beaten

100g craisins (or raisins or sultanas)

100g dried apricots

100g pitted dates

100g pecans

100g blanched almonds

100g hazelnuts

finely grated zest of 1-2 lemons

In your food processor or thermomix place the dried fruit. Roughly chop – in my thermomix I did this on turbo with closed lid setting – just press turbo once or twice. Remove and set aside. If you don’t have a food processor or thermomix chop your dried fruit up with a knife. If you have a thermomix then you can process the raw sugar on speed 9 for 8-10 seconds to make raw caster sugar.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Stir in beaten egg and combine with a wooden spoon. I needed to use my hands until it all came together. You don’t want a really wet mixture so if you don’t need to use all of the egg mixture then don’t. Add in nuts whole, fruit and lemon zest and combine together. I needed to use my hands to make sure it all came together.

With wet hands divide mixture into 6 balls and roll into logs. Place 3 logs on a lined baking sheet and repeat with the other 3 logs. Flatten slightly and place trays in oven. Bake for about 20 -30 minutes. Remove trays from the oven and leave to cool. My logs spread quite a bit so spread them out across the baking trays.

Slice logs using a serrated knife and place slices with one side facing up on the baking trays. Reduce the heat of the oven to 140 degrees and bake the biscotti on this side for about 10 -15 minutes until pale golden brown. Turn each biscotti piece over and bake again for the same amount of time. Leave to cool on cooling racks. Now my oven is as slow as the hills so I needed to do each oven tray separately and it did take some time for the whole process but is so worth it. The recipe says you should get about 100 cookies. Mine were longer but I filled two containers.

These biscotti will keep for up to 10 days in an airtight container. These won’t last 10 days in our house. I’m thinking this would be gorgeous with pistachios and craisins at christmas time all wrapped up in cellophane with a big red bow.

This recipe has been adapted from the Fruit & Nut Biscotti recipe in Monday Morning Cooking Club – one of my all time favourite cookbooks.