I like the classy ease of having a jar of homemade biscotti in the kitchen. It makes me feel European and sophisticated, like my favourite Italians, hee hee. On mornings when I am dashing out the door, it’s lovely being able to snaffle a biscotti to have with a hastily drunk cup of tea. That said, I enjoy them even more on slow weekend mornings, along with a leisurely cup of coffee (or two …), my favourite armchair, and a good book.
The biscotti I see most often in shops and cafes are the almond, hazelnut or chocolate versions. This is my sugared-up version, tailored to please the sweet toothed and crunchy toothed in equal measure. These biscotti are supersize and not as crunchy as normal but rather kind of ‘gnawable’ in a softer, denser way. I suppose the high sugar content from the praline and butterscotch gives them this chewy texture, with the familiar crunch coming from the nuts and butterscotch. I also made only one log from my mixture, instead of two as the recipe says, and I didn’t cut mine as thin for the second bake as I like a great big truncheon of a biscotti, rather than a skinny wand! But if you want the result to be a smaller, harder biscotti then shape into two smaller logs and cut to about half an inch for the second bake.
Butterscotch Praline White Chocolate Biscotti
For the Pecan Praline:
50g caster sugar
For the Biscotti:
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
260 grams plain flour
150 grams caster or granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bag white chocolate chips or 50g white chocolate, chopped
1 bag butterscotch chips
First make the praline, as you need to leave this to set and cool. Tip the nuts and sugar into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over a low heat, stirring and turning the mix constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar has melted and is a dark caramel colour, and coating the nuts. Don’t overdo this step – it’s easy to let the sugar turn too dark and burn. Carefully tip the mix onto a sheet of baking parchment and leave to cool. Once it’s set firm, chop up roughly with a knife.
Heat your oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
For the biscotti, whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract. In a large bowl whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Then add the egg mixture slowly and stir, adding the chopped praline, butterscotch and white chocolate chips as you go, and work it gently until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half, and on a lightly floured surface roll each half into a 7 inch-long log that is about 3 – 4 inches wide. Transfer logs to the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes, or until firm to the touch (log will spread during baking). Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a sharp knife, cut logs into slices about ¼ – ½ inch thick on the diagonal. Place the slices of biscotti on the baking sheet and bake about 10-15 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch. (The longer you bake the biscotti the more crisp and crunchy they will be.) Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container for several weeks.
[You could also dip the ends in melted chocolate or drizzle some over the biscotti. I attempted the former and made a mess by thinning the chocolate too much with milk, so that rather than a hard satiny carapace of chocolate sealing the end of the biscotti, I had a runny mess that wouldn’t set! Tip: don’t try to be clever and make the chocolate go further by diluting it. And instead of dipping the biscotti in the melted choc as most recipes instruct, lay the biscotti on a sheet of baking parchment and spoon the melted choc over them instead.]