One of my favorite cookies of all times is a fruit filled biscotti. In my early years this was not a style of cookie that you found many people making in Northeast Missouri! It just wasn’t a bar cookie that people had much exposure to. It was reserved more for the merging coffee hubs starting back in the early 90’s. It was at this time I spent just about every summer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Still single and devoted to 20 mile bike rides every day, the coffee houses were my afternoon indulge most weekday afternoons.
When I had my afternoon ‘treat’ I would allow myself ‘one’ biscotti to go with my afternoon Joe. They were low on sugar, and a bit healthier than many cookies. Most of them, however; were not not freshly made, they were individually packaged. A few years past and I decided to try my hand at making what is often called the ‘twice-baked’ cookie. You make the dough for this delight, bake & slightly cool before cutting it into slices. Then you re-bake the bars on both sides before completion. Some people sprinkle them with powdered sugar, others will ‘half’ dip them in a thin glaze. I usually leave mine plain for the most part.
Thus began my love for fruit filled biscotti bars. I found one basic recipe could be adapted to quite a few different flavors and twists. At Christmas I always did a cranberry orange, almond blueberry was another strong favorite. They need to be padded well if shipped, and they are supposed to be a dry cookie, so they make a good cookie to transport. (Tip: Large pieces of fruit make it hard to cut biscotti.)
Being the coffee ‘snob’ that I tend to be, I thought I would share a good decaf coffee tip with you this week. When we were having our Valentine Dinner a couple of weeks ago, I just happened to serve Starbucks decaffeinated coffee. One of our guests made the comment that it was one of the best decafs she had ever had. Once I made myself stop and think about it, I realized she was totally correct. Frequently you will notice decaf coffee doesn’t seem to have a good quality of body or general ‘umph’ as I call it. I’ve even heard people say it tastes like colored water! You usually will not find Starbucks coffee in our home, it’s not a brand I overly desire. I ended up with it because it was in a local freight store on clearance! Otherwise, I would have never picked it up. I will in the future, it might even make you more of a decaf drinker after you’ve tried it.
I hope you enjoy your batch of biscotti, it takes a small amount of extra time, but I promise it will be a hit. Brew a fresh batch of decaf tonight and dip away with your biscotti bars. Take 3-4 slices to a friend!
For all you monopoly players, April 12th is the date of the upcoming 14th Ozark Mountain Monopoly Tournament being held here in Branson West, Missouri. If you’d like in on all the fun email me at: [email protected], I’ll get an application and flier out to you! Simply Yours, The Covered Dish.
Tropical Biscotti
2/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons pineapple flavoring
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 ½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup dried pineapple, small pieces
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Blend together the first four ingredients with a mixer. Bring all dry ingredients together and slowly add to the wet mixture. Lastly; bring in the pineapple, nuts and coconut. Place the dough on parchment paper that is lightly floured. Knead until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough in half, into logs that are about 12-13 inches long and 2 inches wide. Move the logs to a cookie sheet covered with fresh parchment paper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to set and cool for about 15 minutes.
Cut the bars with a straight edge knife with slices about ½ inch wide. This cut is a quick diagonal cut, do not drag the knife through as it destroys the bars. Place bars back on the cookie sheet and bake for about 15 more minutes, then flip the cookies over baking for a remaining 15 minutes. Sometimes I have been known to lower my temperature to 300 degrees, to make sure the biscotti dries, but doesn’t turn brown in the process.
Allow to cool totally before applying any icing.
Adaptions: Could add ½ cup dried cherries for additional color, if need be you could use pecans instead of macadamia nuts.
For almond blueberry I used toasted almonds, ¾ cup, dried blueberries, chopped, and almond flavoring 1 ½ teaspoons
For Cranberry orange I use pecans toasted, ¾ cup dried cranberries, vanilla or orange extract 1 ½ teaspoons, and 1 teaspoon of orange zest. (Can be more!)
