Orange, Almond and Apricot Biscotti

This is a vegetarian biscotti recipe you just have to try! Biscotti originated as Italian almond biscuits in the city of Prato. Twice-baked, these oblong cookies are crunchy and traditionally dipped in Vin Santo, an Italian dessert wine.

These twice-baked biscotti are a healthy alternative to your usual sugary cookie. My version has a wonderful flavor full of almonds, dried apricots and zesty orange.

This week we went and tried this fantastic new Italian restaurant that opened up in our neighbourhood recently. After eating way too much scrumptious food we decided to end the evening with a coffee and biscotti. I had forgotten how good these oblong shaped cookies were and straight away decided to make my own biscotti recipe.

Orange, Almond and Apricot are incorporated into this biscotti recipe

My version is bursting with crunchy almonds that go perfectly with the sweet and tart flavors of the dried apricots. The orange zest gives a great freshness to the mix.

Biscotti actually means twice baked and this baking process is what gives these cookies their dry and crunchy texture. I love how it looks like a loaf of freshly baked crusty bread when it emerges from the oven.

All though these cookies take a bit longer to make due to the double baking process they are still relatively easy to put together. And the beauty with these dry crunchy cookies is that they will last for a long period of time when kept in an airtight container.

Also you might like to try our Double Chocolate Cookies or Peanut M&M Cookies too.
Enjoy.

Orange, Almond and Apricot Biscotti

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 free range eggs
• ½ cup almonds
• ½ cup dried apricots sliced
• juice and zest of ½ an orange

Instructions

• Heat oven to 320 (160C) and line a cookie tray with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl then stir in the sugar. Add the almonds and apricots.
• Lightly beat the eggs and add to the mixture along with the orange juice and zest. Mix until combined.
• On a well floured surface such as a clean kitchen bench or table roll the mixture out onto a log about 3 ½ inches wide and long enough to fit on you cookie tray, but leaving about 2 inches at each end to allow the log to expand in the oven. As biscotti mix is quite wet you can be really liberal with the flour here, putting down a good ½ a cup or so. Keep your hands well floured to roll and shape the log.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes until a slight golden crust has formed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray completely.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 (150C). Once cooled transfer the log to a cutting board and with a sharp kitchen knife or serrated bread knife, diagonally cut the log into biscuits about ½ an inch in thickness.
• Place the biscuits back on the baking tray and return to the oven and continue to bake for around 10 minutes on each side until lightly golden. Remove from oven and stand on tray for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.