I hope you all are having fun getting ready for Thanksgiving! I sure am :). We just got back from the grocery store a little while ago after a two hour trip! It was an eventful one, I nearly knocked down and got attacked by the entire squash and pumpkin display in an effort to rescue the best looking (and tiniest) spaghetti squash buried beneath a pile of the more monstrous looking ones! :P
I'm really excited about this year because I'll actually be using recipes for the dinner. Last year, I winged it and somehow managed to serve a decent turkey without giving anyone in the family salmonella. But I've been hypnotized by the Food Network, I now have all these cravings for things I've never even tried before! (How do they do it?!) All those amazing seasonal and holiday dishes that their cooks and chefs have been preparing has me convinced that I need to use their recipes! So even though it's just going to be the hubby and me for Thanksgiving this year (because they haven't invented teleporters yet and it's too expensive to visit family across the country both now and at Christmas time) I still plan on preparing a feast and making the most of it!
What's the holiday season without cookies? Better yet, chocolatey ones that you can dunk in your favorite holiday tea like Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride or Nutcracker Sweet? (<---Gluten-free folks, please don't drink the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea, it contains gluten...I found this out after drinking a cup without reading the box, then getting sick :P! ) Oh, but what about hot chocolate?! Sure, you can dunk these biscotti into a cuppa hot chocolate but just realize that they already contain the hottest of chocolate! I used a whole bar of this awesome mexican chocolate to give the biscotti a really deep chocolate and cinnamony flavor. I also added Piloncillo! Try it! It's goood! Leave these for Santa this year and you might just get that totally affordable camera you've been wanting! Btw, my New Year's resolution is to stop projecting my desires onto my poor readers, but I still have a month and a half to get away with it ;o)!
Gluten-Free Mexican Chocolae Biscotti
3/4 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup millet flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP potato flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 bar of mexican chocolate
1/2 of a piloncillo cone
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup milk
1 large egg
4 TBSP room temp. softened butter
1 tsp xanthan gum
Preheat oven to 375
Combine all flours and sugars in one large bowl (and almond meal), along with the xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder.
Break bar of chocolate in half and melt in a large cup filled with 1/3 cup milk . Melt in micro for 45 seconds then mix with a spoon, then melt for another 45 seconds to one minute.
Shave the piloncillo into small pieces using a knife
In a small bowl, add the cinnamon, melted chocolate and milk, and egg. Then mix in the melted butter. Combine with the bowl of flour.
Mold the biscotti into a long loaf, or you can use a rolling pin to roll it out into the shape of a rectangle about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. You can sprinkle vanilla sugar and almonds on top.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375, then lower the oven temp to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes.
Remove biscotti and turn off the oven and cut with a sharp knife into 1/2-3/4 inch wide pieces.
Put biscotti back in the oven for 15 minutes THEN turn the oven back on to 350 and BAKE for another 15 minutes. (Total time in the oven should be 50 minutes -- that includes the off time)
Let cool before eating. If you want the biscotti extra crunchy: After the final 15 minutes, turn off the oven and let the biscotti rest in the oven for up to 30 minutes).
Random Sidenote:
After coming to terms with my obsession with cute things and yummy food, I realized...hmm...I like to draw, I like cute things, why not draw cute things that are somewhat foodie related! So this is what I'm doing these days when I'm not cooking/baking or writing really long blog entries; haven't picked up the pencil in awhile, so I'm a little rusty, but it's a lot of fun so far :).
Further reading: coeliac disease guidance from the NHS.