Bfth Bakes Biscotti

 I am good at many things.  (I am, aren't I?  I AM!  Aren't I?)  One of the things I'm not so good at is baking.  I can cook a good meal, but baking...

Now this may have something to do with the fact that I've got an egg allergy which has made baking a bit of a challenge.  For years I've been using egg replacer (specifically Ener-g Egg Replacer:  "Ener-G Gluten-Free Egg Replacer Is a Natural, Healthy and Delicious Alternative to Eggs. Made With Natural Ingredients, This Flour Is Free Of Unnatural And Unnecessary Additives. This Product Is Gluten-Free, Sugar Free and Kosher.")  It worked...sort of.  Or maybe it was just me.  (For years I didn't realize that you were supposed to mix the powder with warm water...I was just using water.)  And now I understand that the company is no longer around, so...

With Vegan products becoming more of a thing, who needs to bake?  Well, I despite the fact that I am challenged when it comes to this stuff, I still like to try.  Of course there was the chocolate covered cranberry sauce mess that I made for Thanksgiving.  (In my defense, when I tried again after getting some advice from a friend it came out much better:  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/12/thanksgiving-thoughts.html)  I subscribe to an allergy friendly/egg free newsletter which is pretty great.  (https://mommyshomecooking.com/ if you are interested.)  I've tried a couple of recipes.  Some which I didn't like so much (cornbread) and some which I did (Eggless Easy Chocolate Pecan Pie).  

Baking takes time and energy, most of which I don't have.  It also can require patience which I am definitely lacking.  So even though I am getting suggestions regularly, I don't usually follow up on them.  Then came the 12 days of eggless cookies.  Day 12 was a biscotti recipe.

Now normally this wouldn't necessarily interest me, but...

One of the things I think I DO do well, is a write and edit (although not my own stuff).  In August of this year I agreed to take over a church newsletter.  It's a volunteer gig and I enjoy it.  (Even though it can be frustrating because I am not great with layouts.)  One of the regular columns in this monthly newsletter is a recipe.  And for Christmas, the recipe was for Hazelnut Biscotti which sounded really good.  (The fact that my friend submitted this recipe way before the monthly deadline for articles also helped.)  I couldn't make it, but it got me thinking about biscotti, which I have never tasted, but seen endless photos of.

 So I've had biscotti on my mind and today I decided was the day to try it.  I had most of the ingredients, I was just missing the yogurt and unsalted butter.  (I had butter, but it was salted and I decided this was not the day to use salted, as I usually would.)  So I decided I would run to Walmart after church to pick these items up.  I specifically went to Walmart versus the grocery store as I wanted two other things that I THOUGHT I could get there, which I can't get in other stores... Campbell’s Chunky x Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Cheese with Potatoes & Chorizo Soup (believe it or not, I tried it and I liked it) and Tuna Helper, Tetrazzini (which my husband likes).  Walmart has been the only place we could find these items and guess what...they weren't there!  (Groan).  So I simply got a huge container of plain yogurt (which I didn't need) and a 4 sticks of unsalted butter (I only needed one stick.)

When I got home, I changed (because I still wear "church clothes" to church...yes, I'm old), had a cup of coffee in front of the fireplace (because we got it fixed, so we USE it) and did the NY Time puzzles before heading back into the kitchen and prepping for the biscotti.

I lined up all my ingredients and did my best to follow the directions. (I don't have an electric mixer [nor do I really want one], so I hand mixed everything.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous, as the mix seemed a little "crumby", but I went for it and did my best to split my mixture into two portions:

(Note:  I added craisins to the batter...pistachios, which I also love were recommended as well, but I didn't think that would go over well.)  I thought it was small, but threw it in the over for the recommended 25 minutes.

When time was up, they didn't seem as "golden" as they should be, so I gave it another minute or two. Then I pulled them out and let them cool for the requisite 15 minutes.
  I sliced them (which I did amazingly well for someone who is terrible at those sorts of things), thinking they were still a bit undercooked and put them back in the oven for 8 minutes.  I then turned them and let them back in for another 8 minutes (or maybe I let them go for 10 because I still didn't think they were golden brown enough.

I let them cool, thinking they might still be a bit soft.  I tried the hot little bits that had broken off.  I don't know if what I made is what biscotti is supposed to taste like, but it was quite good. 

 Amazingly, after allowing them to cool further, they did "harden."  To me, the un-initiated, they seemed to "feel" like biscotti.  I stored them away in a cookie jar (aka the disembodied head of Santa Clause) and took an end piece to share with my husband.

 He has declared that it is delicious (I agree) and that it tastes like biscotti.  (I'll have to take him at his word.)  I'll have to try them with coffee morning and see what all the fuss is.

 In the meantime, I still have plenty of butter and yogurt left over, so in addition to my annual baking of dozens (and dozens) of cinnamon sugar chocolate cookies (or chocolate cookies with cinnamon sugar), I have the feeling that I'll be attempting some more biscotti.  Perhaps even trying a chocolate drizzle variety.  (Oh Bfth, you are really pushing it.)  A new holiday cookie tradition just may have been born!