Made a batch of biscotti from my trusted recipe. Somehow, it is softer than how it used to be, I have a feeling it is the particular brand of New Zealand butter that I was using. I had always used the Anchor brand in my numerous biscotti bakes and it has always turned out as I am used to. This time around, I used the Golden Churn brand and the mix is so much softer. The same when I use this brand for my other pastries.

Moral of the story (recipe!) – stick to what you have used before unless you can’t get the same brand wherever you are or it’s way too costly! It also tells me that I should use Golden Churn for cakes not pastries unless I want a buttery pastry.

I could have posted this recipe months back except I want to bake it again in my current environment to see if the weather, different types/qualities of sugar/flour would affect my old recipes. As I am posting this today, it means the recipe tweaked in my Caribbean kitchen, has been tried and tested in my Singapore kitchen, and works.

I have made variations and will post those once I find my old photos off Facebook or someplace.

Ingredients: makes 2 dangerous loaves of biscotti or about 48 fingers

3 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fine white sugar (doesn’t have to be castor sugar)

125g unsalted butter, softened (of 1/2 of a 227g stick of butter = 1 stick of butter (US))

3 eggs

1/4 cup ground almond (optional)

1/2 cup slivered almonds (not flakes)

1/2 cup citrus rind (prepared, candied rinds)

Method:

• Cream the butter & sugar till light in colour.
• Add eggs, one at a time to the mix, beating at each addition.
• Mix flour, ground almond, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a separate bowl.
• Add the flour mix to the butter mixture in portions to allow for an even mix.
• You can add (alternate) the almonds & rind with the flour mix.
• You will get a very soft dough.
• Line two (2) cookie trays with parchment or baking paper.
• Preheat oven at 175ºC (350ºF).
• Separate the dough into two portions straight onto the trays (lined!)
• Lightly dust the tops of the dough with some flour & shape into a loaf of about 3/4″ thickness

• Bake for 15 – 20 minutes in the oven till the tops are golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely on a rack.
• Time to slice the loaves into fingers. Using a bread knife, slice fingers, diagonally, at about 1″ (2.5cm) intervals OR slice the fingers to a 1″ thickness.
• Place the fingers, cut side up, back on your baking trays.
• Oven temperature of 175ºC (350ºF) or 180ºC (375ºF).
• Bake for 3-5 minutes, remove tray and flip the fingers around and bake on the other side for another 3-5 minutes. You might have to bake it for a longer period of time to get that golden brown shade & crunch on your biscotti. Keep an eye and don’t let them turn too dark.