BOOZY BISCOTTI

It felt like a just the time for baking biscuits this weekend. It had been a while since I'd made some , crunchy sweet biscuit treats and even longer since I'd made some twice baked biscotti over two years ago when I gave them out as gifts at Christmas. With that in mind I took an old classic recipe and jazzed it up in the best way I could think of; by adding alcohol to the mix. These flaked toasted almond, amaretto and raisin biscotti are super crunchy and ideal for dunking into your tea on a wet Sunday afternoon.
nibbly

For this recipe I soaked my raisins in a tbsp of amaretto overnight to allow them to soak up that delicious booze and really get moist and packed full of flavor. I like to use amaretto as I find it compliments the flaked almonds in the recipe but you could use another spirit you like. A dark rum or brandy could work really well I think. If you don't drink alcohol then you can leave it out and throw in the raisins as they are or maybe think about soaking them in some orange or any other fruit juice to mix up the flavor of the biscotti.

Having said that you don't have to stick to raisins. Of course something similar such as currents or sultanas will work just as well or if your looking for more fruity flavors then why not try adding some other dried fruits like apricots or cranberries for a more Christmassy feel to your biscuits. If our just hankering for a plain biscotti then you can forgo the dried fruit business altogether and follow the recipe below for your more classic Italian take on this tasty treat.

Here is the recipe folks. Allow yourself a bit of time to whip these up as you will need to pop the biscuit dough in the fridge for an hour to cool before baking.

Boozy Biscotti

125g Softened Butter
170g Golden Caster Sugar
3 Whole Eggs
2 Tbsp Amaretto
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
225g Plain Flour
110g Self Raising Flour
75g Toasted Flaked Almonds
100g Raisins

1. Start by lining and greasing the biggest baking tray that will fit in your fridge and oven.
2. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy before adding in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until fully combined. Add in the amaretto and lemon zest and mix until combined.
3. Next, add in the two flours, almonds and raisins and fold into the mixture until combined and you see no streaks of flour.Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead for three minutes.
4. Split the dough into three and roll out into 3 long sausage shapes approximately 30cm in length. Transfer to the lined baking tray and then pop into the fridge for one hour.
5. When your dough has been in for 55 minutes then pop your oven on to 200 degrees (180 fan). Once in the fridge for an hour, remove the tray from the fridge and pop into the oven for 20 minutes until lightly brown on top. Remove from the oven transfer the sausages to a wire rack to cool.
6. Once cool, slice the sausages in 1cm pieces and then arrange flat back on the baking tray. Place back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes before removing, turning the biscotti and placing back in the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Remove the biscotti from the oven and transfer them back to the wire rack to cool completely. Once cool the biscotti will be super crispy and have a right old crunch to them but every now and then you'll get a chewy little nugget of raisin goodness that will really compliment those almond and amaretto flavors. The biscotti will keep in an air tight container for around 1 month and in my opinion you should leave them for a day before eating as they just seem to be at there peak 24 hours after they have been baked. Get that big pot of tea on the go and get dunking your boozy biscotti for a proper gown up treat!