Orange Biscotti

I have several recipes for biscotti but I think this is my favorite.  This recipe comes from a good friend of mine, Judee Perone. Actually, it's Bernie's recipe, her husband, and I am grateful he shared it with me.  If I bake cookies, this is the recipe I usually do.  Most biscotti recipes call for butter.  This one uses margarine. I once tried to subsitute butter in the recipe.  But it really didn't work as well.  When I mentioned this to Judee she said Bernie tried it and came to the  same conclusion that margarine works better in this recipe.

Biscotti literally means 'twice baked.  As you will note in the recipe below the cookie is in the oven actually twice.  The first time the dough is formed into a 'log' and baked.  Once it is cooled, the log is sliced diagonally, and baked on each side.

On Sunday, November 14th, Jon and Christine came over and spent the day with me. Jon and I sat in the computer room for over three hours where Jon patiently helped me to develop this BLOG.  When the movie rights are sold, I surely will make sure Jon gets credit!!!

I couldn't let Christine, my favorite student, remain idle. So I gave her this recipe, had all the ingredients laid out for her and let her make these cookies.  With minimal coaching from me, Christine did an excellent job!

In any case, here is the recipe!! Thanks Bernie!!  GO FOR IT.

ORANGE BISCOTTI

Ingredients

2 sticks of margarine, room temperature

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

6 teaspoons of Vanilla or 2 teaspoons of Vanilla and 4 teaspoons of triple sec liquor (you can substitute orange extract for the triple sec)

4 cups plus 8 tablespoons flour

3 teaspoons of baking powder

Dash of salt

The zest of a small orange, careful not to include any of the pith

Optional:      1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans or almonds

                   ¾ cup dried chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

1.     In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar until light and sugar fully incorporated and creamy. It will be a bit grainy. 

2.     Beat in eggs and vanilla, then add orange zest.

3.     Add optional nuts and/or cranberries and stir to mix.

4.     In another bowl, put in flour, baking powder and salt and stir to blend.

5.     Stir flour mixture slowly in to creamed sugar.  Do not overmix.

6.     Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes, as dough will be too soft to handle.

7.     Divide dough in to four equal parts and shape each in a log about 12 inches long. 

8.     On a greased and floured cookie sheet, place each log and press until about 2 inches wide and about ¼ inch high.

9.     Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. 

10. Reduce oven to 300 degrees. 

11. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully move to wire racks and let cool an additional 15 minutes.

12. On a cutting board, cut logs diagonally in roughly ¾ inch slices.  Place each slice on its side on the baking sheet.  Toast for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn each slice and return to oven for another 10 minutes

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Is There Really a Difference?

I just love the internet where you can just type in a question or phrase and actually come up with the answer.  With tools like this, we all should be geniuses.  But it’s all fun stuff we learn too.

I would classify the following as ‘fun stuff’.  It’s not earth moving or information that will make a great difference in your life, but it’s FUN.  A few months ago, Cousin Sandra, asked if I knew the difference between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.  Both are used in baking recipes as leavening agents.  So what’s the difference and can you use either in the same recipes. So I decided to look it up on the internet and found the answer.

Here is what I found!!    Take special note of the last paragraph

           

Question: What Is the Difference Between Baking Soda & Baking Powder?

Answer: Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, which means they are added to baked goods before cooking to produce carbon dioxide and cause them to 'rise'. Baking powder contains baking soda, but the two substances are used under different conditions.                                          

Baking Soda

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. When baking soda is combined with moisture and an acidic ingredient (e.g., yogurt, chocolate, buttermilk, honey), the resulting chemical reaction produces bubbles of carbon dioxide that expand under oven temperatures, causing baked goods to rise. The reaction begins immediately upon mixing the ingredients, so you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately, or else they will fall flat!

Baking Powder

Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate, but it includes the acidifying agent already (cream of tartar), and also a drying agent (usually starch). Baking powder is available as single-acting baking powder and as double-acting baking powder. Single-acting powders are activated by moisture, so you must bake recipes which include this product immediately after mixing. Double-acting powders react in two phases and can stand for a while before baking. With double-acting powder, some gas is released at room temperature when the powder is added to dough, but the majority of the gas is released after the temperature of the dough increases in the oven.

How Are Recipes Determined?

Some recipes call for baking soda, while others call for baking powder. Which ingredient is used depends on the other ingredients in the recipe. The ultimate goal is to produce a tasty product with a pleasing texture. Baking soda is basic and will yield a bitter taste unless countered by the acidity of another ingredient, such as buttermilk. You'll find baking soda in cookie recipes. Baking powder contains both an acid and a base and has an overall neutral effect in terms of taste. Recipes that call for baking powder often call for other neutral-tasting ingredients, such as milk. Baking powder is a common ingredient in cakes and biscuits.

Substituting in Recipes

You can substitute baking powder in place of baking soda (you'll need more baking powder and it may affect the taste), but you can't use baking soda when a recipe calls for baking powder. Baking soda by itself lacks the acidity to make a cake rise. However, you can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda and cream of tartar. Simply mix two parts cream of tartar with one part baking soda.