Deep Darkest Chocolate Flax Biscotti

This morning we sadly ran out of my favorite Aunt Gussie's Spelt Hazelnut Biscotti - my preferred accompaniment to morning coffee! This inspired me to make some biscotti. I came across this recipe, which I ended up modifying: 1) I replaced half of the flour with ground flaxseed, 2) the flour I did use was all-purpose, not whole wheat and 3) since I didn't have chocolate chips on hand, I chopped up a Lindt 85% cocoa bittersweet chocolate bar instead. I'm pretty sure the the total amount of "chips" this produced was more than the recipe called for (I didn't actually measure it out)...but hey, it's chocolate!

Biscotti loaves cooling before slicing

Here's the final recipe:

• All-Purpose flour, 1 cup
• Ground flaxseed, 1 cup
• Baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt, 1/4 teaspoon
• Granulated sugar, 1/3 cup
• Dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup tightly packed
• Eggs, 1 large whole egg and 2 egg whites
• Almond or Vanilla extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons (I used almond because I like it better)
• Dark chocolate, 3.5 oz bar chopped (I used an 85% cocoa bar, but next time may try a 70% cocoa one)
• Unsalted almonds, 3/4 cup coarsely chopped

Method: 

Sliced biscotti, before the final baking

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, flaxseed, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the sugars, egg and egg whites; beat with a hand mixer on high for 2 minutes. Add almond or vanilla extract and mix well. Add flour to egg mixture, stir until well combined. Fold in chocolate and almonds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into three equal log-like portions about 6 inches long and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. The dough will be very sticky; moisten your finger tips or spatula with water and pat into rectangle loaves 1-inch thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm.

Remove loaves from baking sheet and allow to cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F. 

Cut rolls diagonally (1/2 inch wide) into approximately 28-30 slices. Arrange biscotti slices on baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes; turn slices over and bake 7 more minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Biscotti will fully harden as they cool. 

Enjoy! 

Apples, Apples, Everywhere!

It may not be apple season, but my attention has been drawn to some seriously scary apples lately. First, there's the genetically-modified Arctic Apple. Written about in the NY Times last year here, supposedly, this apple doesn't turn brown. Yes, you read that correctly. You can slice it, arrange it on your hors d'oeuvres plate and it will stay as pristine as when you first put knife to peel.

The NY Times article explains that Arctic Apples, "contain a synthetic gene that sharply reduces production of polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme responsible for the browning." The already-bagged apple slices you may have seen use vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and lack of oxygen to prevent browning. At home, you could just toss apple slices with a small amount of lemon juice. I guess no one will make a profit from that though...

The second type of scary apple I've come across recently is Crazy Apples flavored apples. These are real apples that come in flavors like bubble gum, pomegranate grape and tropical blast. While I have not actually sampled one myself, the flavor is supposed to be on the inside. The company's website insists that Crazy Apples contain no added sugars, preservatives, artificial flavors (er, bubble gum, really?), are not genetically modified and that their apples have not been pierced or punctured...but of course they cannot disclose their procedure for flavoring the apples.

I don't know about you, but I think apples are already sweet, delicious and come in a variety of flavors - no tampering needed.