Italian lovin’ from the oven.

Posted on by Selena Robins

Italian.
Sexy.
Sweet.
Hot.
Fresh.
Dunkable.
Nutty.

All words to describe my never-feel-guilty-pleasure.

I’m talking about homemade biscotti of course.

What? Did you think I was talking about my other never-feel-guilty for watching Antonio Cupo in a movie pleasure?

Pistachio-Almond-Orange Biscotti

BISCOTTI-2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 TBSP vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 large orange, zested
*** Your choice here: 1.5 ounces Orange Brandy – or – 1.5 ounces of the juice from the orange
3 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 TBSP sifted baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup un-salted, peeled pistachio
1 egg, beaten with 1 TBSP water (for egg wash)

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
  2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a small bowl, beat one egg and add 1 TBSP water, set aside. You’ll use this at the end.
  4. In a bowl, beat the following ingredients with a whisk until they are all well blended: oil, 3 eggs, vanilla, sugar, orange zest, (brandy or the orange juice, whichever you chose to use).
  5. In a separate bowl add all the following ingredients and mix together so that the nuts are evenly coated: flour, baking powder, salt, almonds, pistachios
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the egg/oil bowl mixture, and blend until you get a sticky smooth dough. Be careful not to mix too much, as you don’t want a cake consistency. If you feel the mixture is too dry, add a bit of the juice from the orange, until you get a sticky dough.
  7. Sprinkle flour on your work surface and also on your hands.
  8. Add the dough onto your work surface and divide dough into four equal balls.
  9. Add two of the dough balls on your cookie sheet, using your hands, press down until they are about 1/2 inch in thickness.
  10. Brush the top of each dough with your egg wash. A light coating. This is optional: You can sprinkle some sugar on top of each.
  11. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, they should be a light golden brown.
  12. Remove from oven and put them on a cooling rack, and let them cool completely. In the meantime, put the other two balls of dough onto your cookie sheet and repeat steps 9 to 12.
  13. Once they are cooled, slice them into 1/2 inch slices, crosswise.
  14. Put the sliced cookies on the cookie sheet and bake an additional 5 – 10 minutes.
  15. The second bake will depend on how crispy you’d like them. If you want them to be real hard, that they need to be dunked into hot coffee/tea, then you’d bake them longer. But if you are looking for a nice crunch, not too soft or not too hard, then 5 – 10 minutes is good.

If you have any questions about this recipe, please feel free to comment here and I’ll get back to you.

 

Buon Appetito!

BISCOTTI

 

I’m always excited when a blog follower downloads a recipe and gives me feedback. I am especially tickled, when they send me pictures and let me know how much they enjoyed the process and the fruits (or in this case, cookies) of their labour.

Thank you to Nancy Bristow for sending me the following pictures. She had fun baking these biscotti’s, and is planning on making more.

Here is a collage of her biscotti making adventure.

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For more recipes (over 100 family dishes), PLUS, two stories (children’s book, and a comedy short story for adults) download a sample or purchase WISHES. STITCHES & DISHES: Bundle of Family Fun.

Available on AMAZON for only $0.99

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It’s the most bakeable time of the year.

Posted on by Selena Robins

It’s the season for last minute shopping, last minute cards to be sent out, and the most fun of all—last minute baking,

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Sharing a few recipes to complement your sweet table. These can be enjoyed any time of the year, so if you don’t have time before Christmas, you can whip them up for New Year’s, PJ Weekends, any time is a good time to bake and fill your home with the sweet essence of home-baked goodies made with love.

 

 

 

Italian Christmas Cookies

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Ingredients

4 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour

4 tsps. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2 cups icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar), sifted

6 tsps.lemon juice, freshly squeezed from a lemon

Colored sprinkles

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease your cookie sheet.

Place a piece of wax paper underneath your cookie cooling wracks.

In a bowl sift icing (confectioner’s) sugar, and add lemon juice. Mix well together, until smooth, and not too watery. You can thicken it with more icing sugar if you need to. Set aside, while you make your cookies.

In a big bowl bowl cream together, eggs, butter, vanilla extract and sugar, until creamy.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt together and mix well.

Slowly add flour mixture to creamy mixture, and knead well to form a non-sticky dough.

Sprinkle working surface with some flour, and turn dough onto your surface and roll the dough to form a log.

Slice into two inch pieces, then twirl into shape.

Place each cookie on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then dip each cookie into the lemon icing sugar bowl, and top with sprinkles. Then transfer onto a cooling rack.

Maple Pecan Tarts

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Ingredients:

1 cup pure Maple Syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped (you can toast them ahead of time, or use them as is)

48 miniature uncooked tart shells, or 24 large tart shells, or if you want to make a pie, 1 uncooked pie shell. You can purchase pre-made ones (saves time) or you can make your own.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Tip: To keep the edges of any pie or tarts from burning, place a small bowl of water in the corner of your oven. Just use a oven-proof glass bowl, add about 1 cup of water and put in the corner. Helps to add moisture and not burn your crust. I do this for cakes as well, and makes cakes nice and light.

In a bowl add: maple syrup, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, lemon juice and vanilla, mix well until smooth and creamy.

Distribute pecans evenly to each tart shell.

Fill tarts with creamy mixture to the top.

Bake tarts for 18 – 20 minutes (for pie, bake for 45 – 50 minutes)

They’re done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out dry.

Best wishes from our home to yours.

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Whatever special holiday you are celebrating;

May you be dashing through the snow (or sand or grass) with laughter.
May your star on your tree, the twinkling lights in your world shine bright with blessings.
May your bells jingle with music, whether you can carry a tune or not.
May your homes be filled with warmth, love, laughter, candy, good health, kindness, peace and harmony for you, your families, friends, community, country during the holidays and throughout the year….the world is always a better place when it’s filled with love, laughter and light.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa,

Happy Pancha Ganapati, Bright Yuletide

Happy Holidays to all!