So this is how to make biscotti. I’ve never made this before and for the life of me cannot think why, it’s amazing, simple and deliciously easy, plus very customisable. Right now as I type this I am thinking of chucking in some spices like cinnamon or nutmeg for a more Autumnal vibe or drenching pieces in melted chocolate, so good, they are crunchy cookies though so serve alongside a nice mug of coffee for dunking which softens them up a charm!
Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 3 or equivalent (see temperature conversion chart).
Start off by mixing together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl – the flour, baking powder and sugar. Stir it until it has merged fully and looks like flour again. Now, one at a time crack in the eggs and mix through. At first it will not feel like it is doing much, but as you add in the third egg and mix well it will start to grip the dry ingredients into a sort of dough.
Add in the zest of 1 orange, hazelnuts and cranberries then mix well to get into the dough. Sprinkle flour onto a work surface and push the dough onto it, knead together briefly to help shape it into a large log. In the video I then placed this onto a lined baking tray and pressed the dough flat into one big slab, roughly 1 inch in height. Do this, but instead slice down the middle lengthways so you have 2 even sized thinner slabs and spread them slightly apart on the baking tray. Mine still worked out fine, but I want yours to look better than mine haha!
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, the top should have hardened and but it may not have browned, it will be cooked through though. Remove from the tray and slice at diagonals roughly 1 inch apart along the slabs. Turn these over and bake for 8-10 mins until lightly golden, then remove from the oven, and flip them onto their other sides and bake again until lightly golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool, the smell of toasted hazlenut and orange will fill the room! Serve with a coffee if you wish to soften them up, but they do have a very satisfying crunch on their own!