lisi's luscious desserts

I must admit I’m not the biggest biscotti fan – but I often see many eyes light up over biscotti (Val, Kathy, Mike), so I decided to make these again – since it’s been about 13 years.  And ohmygoodness…I’m getting sooo much crazy good feedback!  Melissa called to report that both she and her mom loved these cookies, said they were absolutely delicious.  Crunchy but not break your teeth crunchy with such amazing flavor.  Ali’s father-in-law, a big time biscotti fan, said these were terrific and reminded him of Italy.  Mike said they were the best he’s ever had and Jodi agreed.  I explained to Andy that these are supposed to be hard – and he said, “Hmm… good… for a hard cookie!”  We made these blue corn biscotti at Mesa Grill.  The slightly blue color draws me in, but the crunchy blue and yellow cornmeal  texture, pecans and (mild) sambuca flavors keep me munching.  I think I’m officially a biscotti fan.  These are ridiculously easy to make – very little effort here save to find the blue cornmeal – which btw I believe you can find at Whole Foods.  These cookies are great for company or for every day  – great in the afternoon or evening with coffee and will last for about 2-3 weeks in a cookie jar or airtight container.  Enjoy-

blue corn biscotti (from Cakes and Cowpokes by Wayne Harley Brachman):
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons blue cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pecan pieces
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
2 large eggs, room temp
2 tablespoons sambuca (don’t omit this – really need it for flavor)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the flour, sugar, yellow and blue cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pecan pieces in the bowl of your mixer.  With paddle attachment and on lowest speed, mix for a minute to distribute ingredients evenly.

Still on lowest speed, add the butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time – and mix until blended in a bit.  Add the eggs, and then sambuca and continue to mix until the dough just comes together.  Pull the batter from the mixer and with your hand mix to incorporate any extra dry ingredients floating around.

On a sheet-pan lined with parchment or foil, form 2 logs.  Make the logs about 3-4 inches wide and about 1-1 1/2 inches thick in height.  I made 1 1/2 logs.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes – or until lightly browned.  Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 2 hours.  They can sit longer (or overnight) before you slice and bake again.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a log carefully onto a cutting board and on a diagonal (or straight across, up to you!) slice the biscotti about 1/2 inch thick.  Continue and slice both logs.

Place the cookies down on the parchment or foil lined sheet pan (I used the same one) and bake for about 16-18 minutes total.  Half way through (after about 8-9 minutes), pull the biscotti from the oven and carefully flip each one over and continue to bake and brown the other side for the next 8-19 minutes.  They might still be a bit soft but will firm up as they cool.

Cool and store in an airtight container or cookie jar.  These make great gifts packaged up with a bag and a bow!

Enjoy-

other dessert recipes you might like:

• (luscious) lemon yogurt cake
• chocolate/caramel matzoh candy with sea salt
• coconut mounds (the best ever) (dairy and gluten free btw)
• hamantaschen
• banana toffee cake