Tag Archives: pistachio

Vegan Chocolate Biscotti

Chocolate, pistachio, cardamon biscotti

Biscotti are twice cooked Italian biscuits. You cook them first as a log, and they come out of the oven a soft cookie texture. After cutting them into slices you cook them a second time. This time they end up dry and crunchy, and perfect for dunking into a coffee or hot chocolate.

This version of the recipe uses almond and coconut flour to make them gluten free, maple syrup to avoid refined sugars, and no eggs to make them Vegan and Vegetarian. Despite being a significant variation on the traditional recipe they are a delicious, crunchy Biscotti that are no shame to the original recipe. The almond flour gives them a lovely richness that makes them feel more sinful than they are!

Unfortunately our son has just sneaked half the batch while we were out so we have to make a second batch already…

Ingredients

  • 100g blanched almonds (or 1 cup almond flour)
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp cardamon powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Directions

  1. Pre-warm the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degree Fahrenheit)
  2. Blend the almonds in a food processor with a metal blade (preferably the mini food processor attachment or a chopper accessory on a blender) until they are a fine powder (alternatively use almond flour
  3. Add the ground almonds, coconut flour, cocoa powder, cardamon powder, baking soda, and sea salt to a food processor. Process to combine all of the ingredients
  4. Add the maple syrup and process to combine all of the ingredients. (Note: If you prefer sweet biscuits you might like to increase the amount of maple syrup to 1/2 a cup. This is not a particularly sweet biscuit recipe.)
  5. The mixture should start to form into a ball. Let it rest for 5 minutes for the coconut flour to absorb the maple syrup.
  6. Remove the mixture and place it on a piece of greaseproof paper. Knead in the pistachio nuts and chocolate to mix it through the mixture evenly
  7. Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and place the mixture in the middle of the tray. Shape the mixture to form a block about 20cm long, 10 cm wide, and 2 cm thick.
  8. Cook the biscotti in the oven for 15 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool (approximately 1 hour)
  10. Slice the log into 1cm wide biscuits using a bread knife. It is important that they are even in width as you are going to cook them again.
  11. Spread the slices of biscuit evenly on a baking tray lined with greaseproof baking paper
  12. Cook again for 15 minutes until the biscotti are crisp and crunchy but not hard
  13. Allow to cool and serve alongside coffee or hot chocolate

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Carbon Handshake – A Dive Right

Nutty breakfast “muesli”

Nutty breakfast Muesli

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but not the easiest when you are trying to avoid processed food. We have become so conditioned to toast with spreads, or muesli with yoghurt that we hardly think of other options for breakfast.

While our Sago Porridge has become our standard breakfast, the one we make without thinking, it is really nice to have some variation, especially variation that can be made ahead of time and whipped up quickly before work. Because let’s face it, it isn’t as though we suddenly found a whole heap of extra time when we changed our lifestyle, but we did prioritize food and cooking our own meals over television time 🙂

This breakfast muesli was actually created by our son (6). He wanted to make breakfast for us, and started looking through the pantry for things to put in it. Together with Barry he pulled out all of these ingredients, and then with the help of Papa he put them together for our breakfast. It was really good, and worthy of including here. Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 20g cashew nuts, chopped
  • 20g pinenuts, chopped
  • 20g blanched almonds, chopped
  • 20g shelled pistachios, chopped
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 20g goji berries
  • 2 apples, chopped
  • 4 pitted dates, chopped
  • 1 dried fig, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • good squeeze of lemon juice
  • pinch of sea salt

Directions

  1. Toast the nuts in a frying pan together with 1 tsp of coconut oil until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove from the pan. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. (Note: This can be made in larger quantities and stored in an airtight container to use later if you like.)
  2. Chop the apples into bite sized pieces. Place in a bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon and toss to coat all of the apple pieces.
  3. Sprinkle over a squeeze of lemon juice. This will stop the apples from browning.
  4. Chop the dates and fig and add to the nuts.
  5. Stir the nuts mix through the fresh fruit and serve.
  6. it would also be nice to add some fresh blackberries, blueberries, or cranberries to the mix as a variation.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Moke – Let it burn