No-butter biscotti saves my hide

I confess I have a problem with snacks.  I love them.  Don’t you?  Like many people, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to eat better, so my snack routine could snag my newest healthy habit pretty hard.

Enter the butterless biscotti.  I know, I was skeptical too – until I tasted the biscotti.  Besides being absolutely delicious, the crunch from the cornmeal, nutty taste of the chopped almonds and sugar shot from the white chocolate will send your taste buds into Olympic overdrive!  The texture and taste of this Lemon, white chocolate, and almond biscotti will totally satisfy your sweet tooth – at least for a while!

Lemon, white chocolate and almond biscotti

(based on Giada De Laurentis’ Almond and Lemon Biscotti dipped in white chocolate recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (from between 3-4 lemons)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds (use regular almonds if you don’t have blanched)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer ’til light yellow, about 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, then the flour, and mix just until blended (sticky dough is normal at this point). Mix in the almonds and white chocolate chips.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal parts, and place on one baking sheet.  Form each dough mound into 2 (9×13) logs. Bake for 35 minutes; biscotti will be lightly browned.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Use a serrated knife to cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch thick diagonal slices.  Lay the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheets.  If you use two baking sheets like I did, take the bottom baking sheet out five minutes ahead of the one on top.  Bake until biscotti is golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely on a wire rack before eating.  Store in an airtight container.

Serve biscotti with a hot drink such as coffee or tea, and enjoy dipping and eating your biscotti. These won’t last long if you have snackers in your house!

This biscotti recipe is one of the easiest ones I have made.  Let me know what you think.  Do you love biscotti, or another type of snack to munch on in the afternoon?

Clacked by Kelly Estes
on Jan 06, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT