Cornmeal Biscotti

Biscotti is the exception to my dried fruit rule and in case you're new to my blog my dried fruit rule is that I hate it. I actually don't mind dried fruit in biscotti because the whole freakin' thing is dry and crunchy so the chewy texture of the dried fruit doesn't get in the way of my experiencing something soft and fluffy.

These biscotti were made for my trip to NYC and are Gluten Free for my GFF and for the added benefit of ridding my cupboard of half a bag of corn meal and half a bag of almond flour.  Almond flour is apparently something I was afraid of running out of and bought way too much of.  This recipe also got rid of all the raisins in my pantry which are only there because Thomas Keller made me buy them.  Good riddens.  Every time I get to throw away an entire box or wash one and store of my plastic storage containers I'm practically giddy.

These biscotti are made in a way very similar to my favorite biscotti recipe.  Butter and sugar are creamed together (in this case brown sugar which gives them a more complex flavor), to that you add eggs and vanilla, followed by the dry ingredients and finally the mix ins.  For this application I chose to add raisins and walnuts because they were there. 

The finished dough gets smooshed into logs and baked, then sliced and baked again.

These taste really great - the raisins and walnuts work really well together and the variety of dry ingredients (cornmeal and almond flour) lend a much more unique flavor to this biscotti than comes from the traditional variety.

I only have one issue with this biscotti and it's my own fault and it, shockingly, has nothing to do with the raisins.  In fact it's only my issue because no one else complained about it and actually said they liked this particular attribute to the biscotti... they were too crunchy...

I know that sounds weird because biscotti are supposed to be crunchy.  Overall, the biscotti had the perfect level of crunchiness.  However, there were individual, crunchy grains of what I can only assume are cornmeal in here.  I know exactly what happened - the recipe says "fine" cornmeal and I had "coarse" cornmeal and I even paused for 1/2 a second and considered grinding my coarse cornmeal to be finer but then I decided that was too much work.  The first few bites I took, I was worried I'd lose a tooth but somehow I didn't and no one else did either.  Everyone dodged that bullet but I do recommend using "fine" cornmeal in this recipe to avoid tempting the dental Gods.

Cornmeal Biscotti
Adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients
1/2 cup Golden Raisins
1 cup Fine Cornmeal
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1 1/4 cup Almond Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
2 oz (1/4 cup) Butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup chopped Walnuts

Instructions

Place the raisins in a bowl and cover with warm water.  Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain and set the raisins on paper towels. 

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cornmeal, cornstarch, almond flour, baking powder and salt. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater with a rubber spatula and add the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat together on low speed until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until well blended. Add the walnuts and raisins and beat at low speed until mixed evenly through the dough. 

Divide the dough and shape into 2 wide, flat logs, about 10 inches long by 3 inches wide by 3/4 inch high. Make sure they are at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place in the oven on the middle rack and bake 50 minutes, until dry and firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes or longer. 

Place the logs on a cutting board and carefully cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place the slices, with one of the cut sides down, on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the slices are dry and lightly browned. 

Enjoy!

Julie