Gluten free almond biscotti

I would bake biscotti a lot for us as a family and also for gifts, before I had to cut gluten from my diet and I had already perfected my recipe. My husband reminded me the other week how much he missed my biscotti as I had not made any since going gluten free. This was mainly because as with most things sometimes you have to try a few recipes out before finding one you love but with gluten free recipes I find that it takes a bit more effort to find something that works.

This recipe is one that works for me and my whole family love it. They keep well and travel well as I found out recently when I packed some in a plastic container and took them in my suitcase. They survived the journey and the manhandling of the case during the journey on and off the plane! They are not as hard as biscotti mainly because I don't like them really hard. 

Please don't be put off by the method. The double baking really is not much of a fiddle because the first part takes no time at all as you just squidge it into a log shape and the second part you just slice through, so if you think about it regular biscuits need rolling out and cutting. I can bake a batch of these quicker that a batch of any other biscuits.

Ingredients

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

65g smooth peanut butter

25g coconut oil

100g muscovado sugar

55g demerara sugar

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 tsp fine salt

100g gluten free oats blended to a flour in a high speed blender

120g ground almonds

*45g chopped plain chocolate, chopped or mini chocolate chips OR another favourite combo is 35g pistachios chopped and 20g flaked almonds but you can try out any mix you like just remember to swap roughly 45g-55g of your chosen addition in.

Variations 
Swap out the ingredients above with the star and add in either of the following -

Ginger- add in 50g either crystallised ginger or stem ginger, well chopped. After the first bake allow to cool before cutting with a very sharp knife.
1 tsp ground ginger, dip in melted plain chocolate and sprinkle with some chopped flaked almonds.

Orange- add in between 60g and 100g chopped crystallised orange sticks (Using my recipe) I use 100g as I love it with a good orange taste, after the first bake allow to cool before cutting carefully with a very sharp knife,  when cooked dip in melted plain chocolate and sprinkle with finely chopped crystallised orange sticks.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (350f)

2. Line two baking trays with baking parchment

3. In a small bowl. mix the flaxseed together with 3 tblsp of water and set aside to thicken.

4. Using either a freestanding mixer, (with the paddle attachment) a hand mixer or plenty of elbow energy mix together the coconut oil and the peanut butter until well blended.

5. Add both sugars and beat together really well.

6. Beat in the flaxseed really well until well mixed.

7. Add the dry ingredients one by one (Or my way, just plonk it all in!)

8. The dough should be slightly sticky, If too dry then add another 5g coconut oil.

9. Its at this stage that you either fold in the chocolate chips or the pistachio and almond mix or try any other additions. 

10. Once well mixed divide the mix roughly into two long logs each about 23cm long and 7 cm wide. As with a lot of gluten free mixes there is no rolling. Just shape it onto the baking trays allowing enough space in between the logs. The mix will spread.

11. Bake it for about 20 -25 minutes or until golden.

12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle so you can cut it but don't let it get too cold as will be too brittle.

13. Slice it diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Use a very sharp knife for this. I use a serrated bread knife and be very careful as at this stage it is very crumbly and delicate but will firm up once baked. 

14. I then very carefully space it apart a bit more and bake it for another 10 minutes on one side and then carefully turn it over and bake for 10 minute on the other side. If it is too delicate to move once sliced then I just leave it where it is and bake it for a five minutes then try and carefully move them around a bit once they have dried out (the pistachio one I find more delicate than the one with just chocolate chips) this process may take a little longer it all depends on the spacing but you are looking for them to be golden brown all over so once you have achieved that remove them from the oven. They may seem a little soft but don't worry they will harden on cooling.

11. I love to then drizzle melted chocolate on these or for something extra special dip one end of each in melted chocolate and sprinkle finely chopped pistachios on to the melted chocolate. If you are doing this the allow to cool until the chocolate is hard. Enjoy!