Christmas is over! We survived! Phew. It was touch and go there for a bit. One too many glasses of hot chocolate…and don’t even get me started on the cookies. I can’t even look at them anymore. Not that it stops me from eating them mind you. I just do it with my eyes closed.
This year I decided to try and make all of my Christmas goodies grain-free, so I have been doing a lot of Paleo baking these last few weeks. While I have always been a baker, I have never really ventured out of my flour (albeit whole wheat) safety bubble. My first forays into Paleo baking occurred about a year ago. Sara and I tired to make coconut flour biscuits…epic fail. Although…we may have a second career as hockey puck makers.
The thing we didn’t understand at the time was how coconut flour worked. With normal flour, if you don’t measure exactly your biscuits might not turn out as amazing as you would have wanted, but it probably wouldn’t fall into the complete catastrophe category. Not so with coconut flour. To me it seems like coconut flour has a super power…super absorbency! The tiniest amount can suck up all the liquid in sight! So if you don’t level your measuring spoon, or pack your cup properly…bam! Hockey Puck!
However, coconut flour’s super absorbency power does have a nice side effect…a little goes a long way. Which definitely helps keep the wallet happy. My poor wallet. The holidays were exhausting for him. He has been asking me for a spa vacation…but those things are just so pricey…
Sorry I digress, back to the food! Like I said I have been on a Paleo bake-a-thon over the holidays. I have made cookies, pumpkin coconut flour biscuits, almond flour muffins, almond flour pancakes, and oh yeah, biscotti. I made some rocking biscotti over the holidays. And guess what? I am going to give you the recipe!
I have to admit, prior to my recent endeavor had never made biscotti before. Therefore, I am not a very good judge on how these compare time wise etc., but I have to admit… these were surprisingly easy to make. This is one thing I have found about Paleo baking. Since the goal with Paleo baking is not to create and maximize the power of gluten (which is why you allow wheat flour to rise, thus increasing it’s fluffy and springy qualities), the recipes are actually much quicker and less complicated than their traditional counterparts. What does this mean for you? Tasty treats in a fraction of the time! How could you not be on board?!?!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp almond milk
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the maple syrup and almond milk. Mix together with a wooden spoon until ingredients are well combined.
- Fold in the chopped almonds.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using your hands pour the dough out of the bowl and onto the parchment paper. Use your hands to form the dough into a sort of flat log. It should be about 1 inch high, 8 inches long and 2 inches wide.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until it begins to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 1 hour.
- Once the dough is cool use a knife to cut the log into about 10 strips. I prefer to make diagonal cuts because this give you longer biscotti.
- Place the biscotti on their side.
- Bake in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes. Flip the cookies over and bake for an additional 10 minutes on the other side. If they cookies are still very moist you may need to flip again and put back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook.
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