Biscotti with Macadamia Nuts and Cranberries

4. December, 2011

'Nice' is the first word that popped into my head when tasting these for the first time. I had in my mind to try a festive combination of orange, macadamia and cranberries and it went really well. I also like the fact that cranberries are packed with vitamin C and antioxidants and the macadamia nuts contain calcium, protein and mono-unsaturated fat. Simple yet flavourful biscotti and will go wonderfully with either tea or coffee. I used orange zest although you can omit if you don't like it.

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This recipe is:

Lactose (dairy) free

This recipe is easy to make:

Nut free

Biscotti with Macadamia Nuts and Cranberries

Makes 10-12 biscotti slices

Ingredients

40 grams (11/2oz) macadamia nuts, chopped coarsely
40 grams (11/2oz) dried cranberries, chopped coarsely
240 grams (8½ oz) spelt flour
110 grams (3¾ oz) raw cane sugar
1 egg (please use free range eggs)
2 teaspoons aluminium free and gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (from a health food store)
Zest from quarter of an orange (optional)
A couple of tablespoons orange juice (or cold water)
A couple of tablespoons cold water

Preparation

Chop the 40 grams macadamia nuts coarsely.
Zest the quarter of the orange fairly finely.
In a medium bowl, sift together the 240 grams spelt flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg, 110 grams raw cane sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add a couple of tablespoons water to dissolve the sugar.
With a large wooden spoon, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Add as much orange juice/water as needed to be able to kneed the dough without it sticking to the bowl. The dough should resemble Play Doh in texture.
Add the macadamia nuts, cranberries and orange zest and kneed into the dough. Make sure the loaf is smooth, without any cracks.
Place baking parchment on a baking tray.
With your hands, mould a 12 centimetres (4.7 inch) x 22 centimetres (8.6 inch) loaf approximately 1.5 centimetres (0.6 inch) in height. Place loaf on the baking tray.
Bake at 170 degrees Celsius/325 Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 3, for 35-40 minutes.
Place the loaf on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes (leave the oven on).
With a serrated knife, carefully slice the loaf on the diagonal in 1 centimetre (0.4 inch) thick slices.
Place the slices on the baking parchment and bake further for 10 minutes.
Turn the slices over and bake for 10-15 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the slices to cool completely inside the oven. If the biscotti are sufficiently baked at this point (crisp and perhaps a little dark), remove them from the oven. If they are a little soft to the touch, allow them to sit in the oven whilst it cools down. You might have to remove the smaller slices so that they will not burn.

Tips

Add a handful of chopped, white chocolate (with raw cane sugar) for an extra special treat.
You can use Brazil nuts or almonds instead of macadamia nuts.
Keep in an air tight container.
You can use whole wheat flour instead of the spelt flour.
You can use regular baking powder instead of the aluminium and gluten free one.
Make sure that the cranberries do not have any added sugar.