Granola Biscotti

This is the second in the ongoing biscotti series. The original recipe comes from Biscotti, by Lou Seibert Pappas.

I love granola. I always have some on hand, and I'll pour it over yogurt for a mid-morning snack or even a lunch or light dinner. I've spent a lot of time experimenting with granola, including trying to make an ultra low-fat version that used only honey as a binder. So any opportunity to use granola in baked foods sounds good to me. The author included a recipe for homemade granola in case you want to make your own, or you can try any number of granola recipes listed in the resources below. For this batch I used Trader Joe's Pecan Praline Granola, which I adore.

This is a butter biscotti, which means it has a different texture from traditional biscotti. The butter makes the cookies more crumbly than biscotti made without butter, so you can actually eat these without dunking them if you want to. With all the butter and sugar, we really cannot pretend that these are healthy, but we can enjoy them anyway and cut calories and fat somewhere else.

One important point about this recipe—it calls for 1/2 cup of honey, which tends to make the dough runny. The first time I made these I added about another 1/2 cup of flour in the bowl, and still had to work in some dough before transferring it to the baking sheet. Biscotti dough should be slightly sticky and feel heavy, but it shouldn't run all over the pan when you bake it, which is what happend to me. I had to add 10 minutes to the first bake to get the dough done enough so that I could safely transfer it to the wire rack for the recommended cooling time between bakes. In the end, the cookies were chewy and too moist. So I reduced the amount of honey and I am pleased with the results. The cookies came out perfectly crisp.

I use a wire rack inserted in the baking sheet for the second baking. Air circulates around the biscotti, which I think renders a crispier cookie. It also means that I can skip the traditional step of turning over the biscotti half way through the baking.

GRANOLA BISCOTTI

Adapted from Biscotti, by Lou Seibert Pappas.

Makes about 4 dozen biscotti.

Equipment

half sheet baking pan, greased and floured
wire rack that fits into the baking pan
stand mixer with paddle attachment
cutting board
serrated knife

Ingredients

1 cup granola
2/3 cup blanched sliced almonds
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.

2. Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in oven or toaster oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.

3. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in honey, eggs, and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing until blended.

5. Stir in granola and nuts. Divide the dough in half.

6. On a floured cutting board, pat out into two logs making them about 1/2-inch thick, 1-1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Lay the baking sheet right next to the cutting board and carefully transfer the logs. Brush off any extra flour.

7. Bake in the middle of the 325° F preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven.

8. Using two large spatulas, one supporting either end, transfer each log from the baking sheet to the wire rack. Let cool 5 minutes. Place on the cutting board. With a serrated knife slice diagonally at a 45° angle about 3/8 inch thick. Insert the wire rack into the baking sheet and place the slices standing up on the wire rack. Return to the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes minutes longer.

9. Allow to cool and store in a tightly covered container. Makes about 4 dozen.

Resources

Cherry, Almond, and Cinnamon Granola, Ina Garten

Maple Granola

Granola, Alton Brown

Bed & Breakfast Inns Online, Granola Recipes

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