These biscotti are made in the traditional Italian manner in that they don’t contain any fat.  The lack of fat contributes to their nice dry, hard texture and also keep the calories low.  The original recipe called for 3/4 cup sugar and 3 eggs.   I reduced the amount of sugar by 1/4 cup, as I don’t care for overly sweet biscotti.  Eggs are a food I won’t cook with so I substituted flaxseed meal and water.  I also used half whole wheat flour instead of just white.  The result is a nice, crunchy, low-calorie, healthy, vegan biscotti, perfect when paired with a nice hot cup of green tea. 

Since this biscotti is not overly sweet it would make a wonderful accompaniment to cheese and wine.  Serve it spread with fresh chèvre and chutney or blue cheese and a drizzle of honey.  Delicious!  I plan to make these again and slice the biscotti much thinner, more like a cracker, just for this purpose.

Don’t laugh, but these also make great dog treats.  If you make them exclusively for your dog, omit the sugar and be certain you don’t use raisins, as raisins can be toxic to dogs.

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Almond and Fruit Biscotti

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup raw sugar

3 T flaxseed meal + 9 T water, combine and let sit 15 minutes

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely

1/4 cup dried cherries, cut in half

1/4 cup dried apricot, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt.   Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the flaxseed meal mixture and sugar, beating well.  Add the extracts and combine.  Slowly add the flour mixture in thirds, combining well after each addition. then add the nuts and dried fruit just until combined. 

With wet hands divide dough in half.  Shape each half into a log.  Place on parchment paper and flatten to form about a 10 inches long and 2 inches wide rectangle.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until firm to the touch.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut log into slices 1/2 inch thick on the diagonal.   Arrange evenly on baking sheet.  Bake 10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake another 10 minutes or until firm to the touch, which could be up to an additional 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.