VANILLA ALMOND BISCOTTI

I cried inside a little bit titling this post "vanilla almond biscotti", as my very Italian self knows that the word biscotti means everything and nothing. Biscotti is Italian for biscuit, but biscuit of any kind. Therefore, if you find yourself in an Italian bakery, and all hopeful tell the baker you would like some biscotti, they quite likely will sneer at you and say "That's fortunate, as we have a million kinds". The secret word, everyone, is cantuccini.
But language-police rant aside, and back to serious stuff, these biscotti aka cantuccini are the bomb. Half the stuff didn't even make it to the second bake as I was eating it straight from the cooling rack. I know, such an outlaw. But they are that good! And all vanilla-y and almond-y (and also just as hot as magma when you take them out of the oven. Who knew). You can serve these to your friends and show off with anecdotes about their real name and pretend you're secretly Italian and everything. Or don't, just keep them all to yourself and scoff the whole batch going "Mamma mia" between each bite.

VANILLA ALMOND BISCOTTI

 

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

2 tablespoons soya milk or other non-dairy milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)

seeds from 1 vanilla pod

95ml (1/2 cup) sunflower oil or other flavourless oil

100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

190g (1 ¾ cup) plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

120g (1 cup) almonds, whole and unblanched

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F and line a cookie tray with baking paper. Mix together ground flaxseed, milk, vanilla and almond extract, vanilla seeds, oil and caster sugar in a bowl until well combined. Fold in half the flour and baking powder and mix well. Fold in the almonds and mix again until well combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir with a spoon or with your hands until it’s all incorporated and you get a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and shape each part into logs about 2cm/0.7” thick. Place them slightly apart onto the cookie tray as they will spread in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, then place the tray onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cool, cut the logs into slices and spread them out on the tray. Return to the oven for 20 more minutes. Cool on the rack and serve.