I was chatting with Dan the other day when out of the blue he asked, “Are you baking tonight?”. Talk about a loaded question, haha. I took this as an opportunity to point out that he is now officially spoiled. He went on to say that he was just asking because while he was having his afternoon coffee he was bummed that he didn’t have a “Patricia-baked-good” to go with it. Aw… sweet. But spoiled. He wasn’t craving anything specifically, just some kind of a fresh baked good. After an hour of pondering he decided he wanted “sausage bread”. Now, sausage bread (like this one from Bodacious Girl) is on my list of things to make someday. Just not today. And since it wasn’t an urgent sausage bread emergency, I didn’t feel bad telling Dan: ”no sausage bread for you“. (And just between you and me, I wasn’t sure I had the patience for yeast dough). But I did take his original request for a fresh baked good into consideration.
The next day I decided to make biscotti. But not the same chocolate biscotti as before. We both love that chocolate biscotti… chewy and sweet and salty and just good. But I wanted to try something new. So once again I turned to Dorie Greenspan and read the Lenox biscotti recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours
So I took the Lenox recipe and added lime zest, reduced the almonds, and added some white chocolate chips. The result was good. I feel like something in the flavor could be enhanced though. Maybe more lime zest? Or a different flavor extract than almond? Don’t get me wrong. These were good just as they were. And crunchy. Not hard, but crunchy. The addictive kind of crunchy. But I set out to make “lime” and got only a hint of lime. I do think coconut would be a nice compliment to the lime, maybe instead of the almonds. I’ll let you know if I try it again, but in the meantime these biscotti will make you happy when you are craving a little something to go with your afternoon coffee (or tea).
White chocolate “lime” biscotti (adapted from Lenox Almond Biscotti)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
zest of 1 lime
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cornmeal and whisk again.
3. Massage the lime zest into the sugar. Breathe deeply. Enjoy the aromatherapy.
4. In your mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, scrape down the bowl, and continue to beat for about 2 minutes more. Beat in the extract.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients but only until they are just mixed together.
6. Add the almonds and chocolate chips and stir it with your rubber spatula.
7. Put about half of the dough onto 1 side of the baking sheet. Shape it into a log about 12 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. Really it looks more flat and rectangular than log-like. Shape the rest of the dough into a 2nd log.
8. Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden but still soft to the touch. Cool baking sheet on a rack for about 30 minutes.
9. (If you turned off the oven, now is a good time to turn it back on to 350). Move the logs to a cutting board and cut each into 3/4 inch thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet.
10. Bake for another 15-20 minutes (until golden and firm).
11. Cool on a rack to room temperature. Enjoy with your favorite tea or coffee.
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