Friday, November 12, 2010

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies - Banana Bread Biscotti


It's amazing how fast this week went by. Before I knew it, it was Thursday and I realized I hadn't yet made my cookies for this week. I still figured I had time though to make them and post them on Thursday night. No worries, right? There was only one problem, I was out of flour. So, I headed over to my local grocery store, saw that flour was on sale for $0.99, and . . . saw that it was all gone. Oh well, so much for making the cookies on Thursday night.

As a result, I had to go back to the store this morning, luckily found that the new shipment of flour had arrived, and began baking. If I only knew that the flour was the least of my troubles.

I decided to make the Cinnamon and Banana Bread Biscotti from Picky Palate's site.


I had my eye on this recipe for quite a while but didn't have the cinnamon chips for it until now. So, the time had come. I began making the biscotti dough.

That's when I encountered my second problem. The "dough" in my bowl was not dough at all. It was more like really thick cake batter. How in the world was I supposed to shape this into logs like the recipe stated? I'm not sure what went wrong, or if this actually is the way it's supposed to be. The recipe said to add the wet ingredients to the dry, but I did it the other way around. Does anybody know if that would make so much of a difference? I wouldn't think so, but you never know.

I did the only thing I could to try and fix this. I added more flour, about a cup more. The dough looked a little better but was still very wet and sticky. So, I stuck it in the freezer hoping that it would reach some sort of moldable state. That seemed to do the trick and I was able to get two logs onto a cookie sheet and start baking.

That's when I encountered my third problem. I noticed that the texture of the biscotti seemed a little different from what I was used to. After the first baking and the toasting of the first side, the biscotti seemed more like country bread loaves than cookies. They also felt a little spongy. Again, maybe this is how it's supposed to be. After all, the title of the recipe does say "Banana Bread Biscotti." Thankfully, after the final baking and leaving them out to cool, they did crunch up considerably and resembled the biscotti that I'm familiar with.



As for the taste, they do have a lot of wonderful banana flavor so I was pleased with that. But, as for making them again, well, I think I'll stick with my tried and true biscotti recipes from now on.


Cinnamon and Banana Bread Biscotti
(adapted from Picky Palate)

3/4 c. mashed over-ripe bananas
1 egg
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon + 1/4 tsp. cardamom)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine bananas, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla in a bowl; mix until combined. In another bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cinnamon chips. Add wet ingredients to dry until combined.

Divide dough into 2 equal parts and place onto a silpat lined baking sheet 4 inches apart from each other. Form each piece of dough into a 7 inch log, about 2 inches wide. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from oven, and slice immediately into 1/2" strips, on the diagonal, using a serrated knife. (Picky Palate's site says to let it cool for 10 min. before slicing, but I've found that it's easier if you do this step immediately after the first baking. If you wait for it to cool, the biscotti will be more likely to crumble when you try to slice it.)

Reduce heat to 250F (I set my oven on 325F). Place slices back onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 min. on each side or until crisped. (I've found that you get a more even crunch to your biscotti if you do a baking on each side instead of just one single baking on one side) Let cool completely.

If desired, you can dip them in melted white chocolate like Picky Palate did, but I didn't have any so I just skipped this step.

This recipe is linked to:
Prairie Story's Recipe Swap Thursday
EKat's Kitchen's Friday Potluck
Family Friendly Fridays
What's Cookin' in the Kitchen Fridays
Friday Favorites
Vegetarian Foodie Fridays
Food Trip Friday
Fat Camp Fridays
Homemade Holidays

Week 7 Twelve Weeks of Christmas:

30 comments:

  1. Aww, sorry they gave you so much trouble!

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  2. Sorry you had so much trouble with them! But you salvaged them and they look great! I love the idea of a banana bread biscotti.

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  3. I just LOVE that you used Cinnamon Chips in your baking for this week too! And wow, does that biscotti look good! It's always so much fun to find an original "flavor" of biscotti. Great job Lisa!

    Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
    ~avril:-)

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  4. Hey there! I was waiting to see what goodies you had in store for us today! Sorry they were a pain... I wouldn't think adding wet to dry or vice versa would matter... I had a bad recipe this week too with cupcakes... But these really sound good I love the combination.

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  5. Love this biscotti. And glad you were able to manage through the mishaps. And thanks for your lovely comment (= I really appreciate it.

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  6. It does look like hard work. Great job, thanks for sharing the info.

    Plan B

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  7. Banana Bread Biscotti?? Wow! They sound exactly like something I would love
    mickey.

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  8. Looks like a good save...wish I could advise, but way outside my expertise.
    They look like they turned out pretty good though.

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  9. They do look good even with all the trouble you had. Looking foreward to seeing your next cookie.

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  10. I appreciate that you posted the difficulties you had. It really does sound like a wonderful recipe, but you never know until you try one on a few times for yourself. This is one that I would still like to try - so thanks for posting :-)

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  11. I have my share of kitchen flops. The flavors of the biscotti sound incredible and wishing I had all of the ingredients on hand so I could make these to go with my morning coffee.

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  12. Looks like you stuck with it and came out a winner! :)

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  13. Lisa, I love biscotti. And banana bread flavored biscotti? YUMMY! Thanks for sharing this with Friday Potluck this week... I always love your posts.

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  14. there's no harm in trying and you did pretty well. you're great. thanks for sharing it here! goodluck on your next cookie! happy weekend!

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  15. Lisa - the best part of blogging is letting someone else find the duds - thanks for weeding this one out for the rest of us :-)

    I'm also an "always biscotti at Christmas" kinda gal. Have pretty much stuck with Martha's recipes - not as adventurous as you were but they've always been top notch.

    Sounds like your creative efforts salvaged teh cookies.

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  16. I love biscotti....

    I add dry ingredients to wet all the time (going against the recipe) and it's never been a problem!

    Perhaps there was an error on the website with the recipe?

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  17. I guess the mashed banana would add quite a bit of moisture to the dough. I get annoyed when I follow what I think should be a reliable recipe only to find such problems. That's why I love these sort of posts because between us all we are learning and sorting out recipes and their issues! Thanks! The cookies look great, anyway!

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  18. Hmmm. You know, I've never made biscotti before so I couldn't say. But what I can say is that from your pictures, they do look pretty tasty! I like the idea of adding the banana flavor in.

    Thanks so much for linking up to Family Friendly Fridays and have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

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  19. You're killing me with these treats! I've never made biscotti but so love to eat it! This sounds good!

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  20. Your biscotti looks great! I love the flavor combos. King Arthur Flour has some great biscotti recipes you might like-biscotti recipes.

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  21. It sounds delicious, too bad it gave you such a hard time! Thank you for linking with Fat Camp Friday- you make me want to make biscotti now!

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  22. Your carnival of treats has thrown me off my guard. I want to try everything! If I make some scrummy yummies I will be sure to come and take part. Thanks for taking part in Vegetarian Foodie Fridays!

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  23. Oh My, u had to go thru soooo muc for these cookies but i think the banana flav is fantastic!!
    i dont know , but i did make biscotti once and it wasnt so wet!!
    But u sure shone and came thru this one!

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  24. Glad to hear your biscotti did turn out in the end! I love biscotti, but it's not my favorite thing to bake!

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  25. I'm your newest follower! Thank you for linking up your recipe! I'll have to stop by next time for your link party!

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  26. banana flavour cookies is awesome!

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  27. Thanks for stopping by my blog! Your biscotti looks so delicious. I am glad to have found your blog.

    Amber

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  28. Wow, you have great linky parties, I'll have to join you next time you do one. These biscotti look great. I love banana bread and I love biscotti. What a great combination.

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