Showing posts with label biscuits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biscuits. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Chocolate, orange and pistachio biscotti


These are the biscotti that Ed Burns made on the Comic Relief Great British Bake Off.  They are very moreish!


  • 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 100g shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
  • 3 oranges, zest only
  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 2 large free range eggs at room temperature, beaten
  • 275g plain flour
  • good pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or use a silicone baking mat on top.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Put sugar and butter in a bowl and mix well (either in electric mixer or by hand) until light and fluffy.

Slowly beat in the eggs, until fully incorporated.  Add the orange zest and mix.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl and mix well forming a soft dough (may be a little sticky).

Add the chocolate and the pistachio nuts and stir until just combined.

Divide the dough into 2 halves and put onto the baking sheet.  Form each half into a long log shape, approximately 25cm in length and 5-8cm wide.

Bake for 25mins.  Remove from oven and leave to cool for 10mins.

Slice up each piece of baked dough into 1-1.5cm slices, a bread knife is usually best as the dough is a little soft.  Gently tip the fragile slices over so they are cut side down on the sheet and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and place to cool on a wire rack.  Make sure they are firm before removing them and putting in an airtight container.  

You can decorate them like in the picture by melting some more dark chocolate and drizzling it over.


Sunday, 28 November 2010

Pebernoedder (Pepper Nuts)


  • 125g unsalted butter (soft)
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 - 1tsp ginger (depending on how spicy you like it)
  • 3/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 good pinch of white pepper
  • 1/4 nutmeg grated
  • 275g plain flour
Makes around 90 biscuits.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Mix the sugar and the butter together until combined.  Add the egg and mix again.

Then measure out the spices with the flour and baking soda and add to the mix and form a soft dough mixture.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and lightly roll on a surface to make a long sausage shape about 1-2cm thick.  Then cut the length into pieces about 1-2cm in size, roll each piece between your palms into a small ball and then squash slightly and place on a greased baking tray.  Do this for all the mixture.


Cook for 10-12 minutes and then leave to cool for around 20 minutes to become crisp before eating.