Butter-free Butterscotch Almond Biscotti

Who says you need butter to bake? Since I'm about halfway through my current mission (see details here), I'm bound to start running out of a few basics...like butter. Trust me, I carefully evaluated my options when using up my last stick the other day and I'm glad I did. Check out what I made here. Yuuuuum.

So from here on out it's butter-free baking for me. And what a great opportunity to learn about baking a little more health-consciously, huh? Oh, the benefits of this project. They just keep stacking up!

I was researching some alternatives to butter online when I stumbled across a recipe that was linked to an article about baking with (and without) butter. Here's the link. Did you get to it, see the title and think I attached the wrong link? Nah, I copied all the basics; just had to make it my own, partly because I'm just like that (see About Me), but mostly because, do you think I have "candied ginger" lying around? Psh. I wish I were that fancy. 


In case you didn't go to the link and that whole last sentence doesn't mean anything to you (come on!), here's the recipe:

2 ½ cups flour
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup ground almonds
1 t. baking powder
pinch of salt
½ t .nutmeg
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 t . lemon juice
1/3 cups candied ginger, chopped into tiny pieces
1/3 cups dairy-free chocolate chips

For better or worse, I almost never exactly follow a recipe so below are my alterations. A lot of the changes are just cutting the ingredients in half. There's no way I could eat 32 biscotti and still like them no matter how good they turned out...and, let's face it, I never know how it's going to turn out when I try something for the first time (and change the heck out of the recipe) so I don't like there to be a full recipe's worth of evidence wasted ingredients lying around if it flops.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup Stevia (white sugar alternative)
1/8 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup crushed almonds - I didn't halve this because I wanted it to be a more dominant flavor and I also didn't use ground almonds but slivered almonds slightly crushed
1/2 t. baking powder
pinch of salt (whatever that means...I have no idea if I halved it properly)
1/4 t. nutmeg - I actually did a little bit more than this keeping it closer to the original amount because I like nutmeg
3 large eggs (this was tricky - I researched egg equivalents and decided on two whole eggs to cut this recipe in half since it called for both whole eggs and egg yolks but the dough didn't have enough moisture after trying to mix it together so I added one more whole egg)
1/2 t. lemon juice
1/2 cup butterscotch chips


Procedure:
Note: These are baked twice giving them the firm texture that biscotti are known for.  
Mix everything but the eggs, lemon juice and butterscotch chips together in a medium bowl
In a separate, small bowl whisk the eggs and lemon juice
Combine the eggs with the dry ingredients, then add the butterscotch chips and mix until it becomes a sticky dough
On a well-floured surface form into a log with rounded edges (if making the whole batch instead of halving it, form into two logs)
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

It's not a very big loaf as you can see. This made about 10 biscotti.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, until golden brown
Remove from pan and let cool for 15 minutes
Reset your oven to 300 now to give it time to adjust while the biscotti cool

 Here is is, golden brown. 

And here's a close up. Look at how the butterscotch chips are all gooey! 

Line your baking sheet again with parchment paper
Cut the log diagonally into slices that are about 1/2" -1" wide

I didn't read that part of the instructions so I just cut them straight.

Lay the slices on their side on the baking sheet

Bake about 20-25 minutes, flipping them over half way through
They should be slightly colored by not browned and will get too hard if over-baked

According to the recipe, they will keep about 2 weeks if kept in an airtight container.

I'm not a huge butterscotch fan but those chips really are yummy in this biscotti. I like the way they turned out...they are not as hard and crunchy as the ones I've had at coffee shops though (you don't even need to dunk it in coffee to loosen it up). I'm not sure if I didn't cook them long enough or if is partly due to this recipe being listed as a "dairy-free" recipe; perhaps it would be better different if it were a "regular" recipe. Either way, I really like the flavor and am happy that I was able to use up some of my butterscotch chips. Did you notice how I actually doubled the amount of butterscotch chips instead of halving it from the amount of chocolate chips in the original recipe? Probably that's why it's good, but I don't care. Also, a lot of the biscotti I've seen are longer, narrower pieces like the picture below. I'm not sure if I should have shaped the loaf to be wider and thinner or what.

From here. 

Oh, man. I could have melted the butterscotch chips and done that drizzle on top. I think I might just do that on my remaining pieces! Check back for an update!

I didn't know anything about making biscotti, nor had I ever really been interested, but this was pretty easy and it's a pretty versatile recipe...just swap out the "flavoring" ingredients and add in your own and you have a whole new biscotti. I'll probably try this again.

Now I just gotta get Stud to try to explain to me over the phone how to make cappuccino so I can enjoy this with coffee. He is the master of homemade cappuccino, complete with frothed milk and a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg or whatever. Lately he hasn't been able to call until I'm already in bed and unwilling to get up and go look at the machine that makes the coffee drinks to see what he's talking about as he explains. Maybe I'll learn tonight...

My first cookie: Coconut Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookie

Over the past few years cooking has become a great hobby for me. Thinking about it now I realized that it wasn’t a love of food that drew me to love cooking but a love of being creative and resourceful with a never-ending list of ingredients.

I first started having fun with cooking and baking when, a few years ago, I realized that I needed to pay much more attention to the food I was putting in my body. Not all food is created equal and I was amazed at the almost instant impact that food has on your body. Since that time, I’ve read a lot about people who try to live healthy lifestyles and what they eat and I’ve noticed a lot of the same ingredients come up again and again. I knew, though, that I can’t (and don’t want to) commit to eating the same thing day in and day out so it became a game to make tasty meals and snacks with healthy ingredients. Since I also really enjoy having friends and family over and cooking for them and my husband, I need to be able to make meals that are healthy AND delicious. I’m eager to proof that those two qualities can go together like peas and carrots (only figuratively…literally I hate the combination of peas and carrots).

One of my favorite things about cooking is being able to make something from scratch, or take a recipe and alter it to meet your needs whether it’s to make it more healthy, to change the flavor a little or to make up for missing ingredients.

With almost a week under my belt of Operation Cupboard Raid (see post here), I decided I was really going to put my creativity and my cupboard to the test and see what I could bake with only what I have on hand.

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stand having oatmeal for breakfast for the next two weeks so my first priority was to use up some of those oats and make oatmeal cookies…but not your ordinary oatmeal cookies. I’ve had two bags of dried cherries in my cupboard for months ever since I was going to use them for a different recipe but and didn't so I decided those has to be worked into my cookie somehow as well. And what goes great with cherries? Almonds! Is it just me or have you ever noticed that anything with an almond flavor has kind of a cherry flavor or scent? And what about Jergen’s Cherry Almond hand lotion? Cherries and almonds need to be together.


Can you tell which is the cherry and which is the almond tree? Further evidence of their sisterhood. Photo credits here and here.

So, so far I was working with a Cherry Almond Oatmeal cookie but it needed...something. I've been on kind of a coconut kick lately and I think I'm making up for lost time (I used to believe that I hated coconut and have recently discovered that I, in fact, love it) so that was my no-brainer final ingredient for:

Yum!

Ok, so here’s the recipe, drastically adapted (and halved) from an oatmeal cookie recipe from a Taste of Home cookbook. I halved the recipe for two reasons: A. with Stud gone it would take forever to go through 3-4 dozen cookies by myself and B. I only had 1/2 cup of butter on hand. I know there are little tricks about halving and doubling recipes but I don’t know them and I’ve gotten along fine so far with just straight numbers.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 sugar (or alternate like Stevia)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup oats
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup flaked coconut (plus about 1/c up for garnish)
1/8 cup crushed almonds

Procedure
Combine butter and sugars in a mixing bowl
Add in egg, vanilla and almond extract

*That mixer is one of my favorite wedding gifts...and proof that we will always have a yellow kitchen.

Separately combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture of egg, butter and sugar mixing well
Separately combine oats, dried cherries, coconut and almonds and stir until evenly combined then add into your dough (I just had slivered almonds and wanted smaller chunks so I put some in a Ziploc bag and crushed them up with a rolling pin)

Spoon mixture onto cookie sheet and sprinkle with coconut flakes

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until golden brown (depending on your oven and the size of your cookies)
Let stand 1 minute before removing to cool on wire racks

*I happened to have some previously toasted coconut so for the first batch I omitted the coconut garnish before baking and sprinkled the cookies with the toasted flakes after removing them from the oven. I found with the second batch that it’s better to sprinkle the untoasted coconut on the cookies before baking because it adheres better and the coconut is beautifully toasted while the cookies are baking.

Enjoy! I think the cherries are the best part, they are a burst of flavor. The oatmeal and coconut provide a lot of great texture and flavor and the coconut is so pretty on top. The almonds get a little lost in the mix but make a subtle appearance now and then. I would consider adding equal parts vanilla and almond extract next time and possibly leaving the almonds in bigger chunks.

What are your ideas to spice up an oatmeal cookie?