Walnut and Chocolate Biscotti and Oaty Digestives - The Perfect Breakfast Biscuits
Ben and I have a morning ritual here in Puglia. While I do my morning Constructive Rest (Alexander Technique has saved my back!) and my Snore Lab exercises, yes, I snore! It's not the done thing for women to talk about it is it? So many people snore and while it's accepted that men do it, somehow for women, it's taboo. Anyway, I digress. Back to biscuits, but first...
While I do my thing, Ben goes off to make sure the pool is crystal clear for our morning swim and to get the coffee equipment ready.
It has to be Aeropress
Ben has coffee making down to a fine art:
Grind the beans (RED BRICK by Square Mile or Ethiopian Djimmahfrom from the Chapel Market Roastery) in our wonderful Wilfa grinder. And yes, we bring out beans from London because even though it would be just fine to use Italian beans, these two are our favourites and we are creatures of habit.
Boil the kettle, but only just
Place ground coffee and water in the Aeropress and stir and wait
Press! Slowly.
Meanwhile, heat and froth the milk in our little milk machines
Combine the two!
Ben's Biscotti Recipe
Finally! The breakfast biscuits. I make two different types. So first, Biscotti for Ben. Perfect for dunking in the coffee and so flexible you can swap out the nuts and the chocolate to suit your taste.
These are made with pistachio and chocolate. Sometimes I use walnuts and sometimes I use almonds. When I'm going to eat them (which I don't often as I find them too sweet) I leave out the chocolate and add a bit of orange zest or nutmeg. That's the fun of these biscotti, you can flavour them any way you like and they still work.
Makes 12 biscuits
Takes about 20 mins to prep and 45 mins to bake
The Ingredients
1 egg
75g sugar (you can use any type: caster, soft brown, demerara, experiment and see the difference, I use soft brown usually)
1 tsp vanilla extract
125g plain flour (often I'll use 90g plain white flour and 35g of one of Hodmedod's wholemeal flours
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g nuts - walnuts in this case but you could use almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts
50g chopped chocolate - I like to use 70% dark, but use what you like best. It will work just fine.
The Making
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a large tray with parchment paper.
Step 2
Whisk the egg, vanilla and sugar until they are pale and frothy.
Step 3
Fold in the flour and baking powder until it's all incorporated.
Step 4
Mix in the nuts and chocolate and form a dough with your hands. Then, on a smooth surface, with a little flour on your hands and on the work surface, and with a light touch, shape the dough into a ciabatta like loaf (approx 25 x 5 centimetres). You want it to be slightly tapered at the ends.
Step 5
Lay the dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment and bake in the centre of your pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes.
Step 6
Pop it on a wire rack and leave to cool a little for 5 - 10 minutes. Then, with a sharp break knife, gently slice the loaf, at a slight diagonal, into fingers about 1 centimetre thick. Don't press down too hard as you slice, if the knife is sharp you'll only need light pressure.
Step 7
Place the slices back on the baking tray to bake again (hence bis-cotti, meaning twice cooked) for 10 minutes, after which time you turn them over and bake for another 5 minutes.
Let the golden biscotti cool on a wire rack and then store ready for breakfast, or anytime really!
Sophie's Digestives Recipe
These crumbly, oaty biscuits go so well with a milky morning latte. They really are the perfect breakfast biscuits. Just sweet enough, melt in the mouth and nutty and delicious.
I play around using different types of flour and every different version I have tried works just fine. My recipe is based on one from Moorlands Eater, but I've played around with it a lot. I never cover my digestives in chocolate, because I don't have a sweet tooth, but you definitely could.
Makes 16 biscuits
Takes about 25 mins to prep and 15/20 mins to bake
The Ingredients
100g medium oatmeal
50g wholemeal flour - I've been using Hodmadod's YQ stoneground wholemeal this summer
50g of plain flour - I've been using Hodmadod's Botanical Flour n2 meadow blend, really tasty and nutty. You could absolutely use plain white flour or just all 100g wholemeal.
40g sugar - I like using soft brown best
1/2 tsp salt - But if you use salted butter, which works just fine, you don't need to add the salt
1/2 tsp bicarb
75g butter - Cold from the fridge. Salted or not, whatever you have.
1 small beaten egg
The Making
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 190 C and line a large tray with parchment paper.
Step 2
Put the oatmeal, flour, bicarb, sugar and salt, if you are using it, into a food processor if you have one or a large bowl if not. Mix them all together.
Step 3
Dice the butter, cold from the fridge and add it to the mixer or bowl. Pulse or rub in with your hands until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Step 4
Add the beaten egg and pulse or mix with your hands until a dough forms. Don't work it too long, just long enough for it all to stick together.
Step 5
Wrap the dough in clingfilm or beeswax wrap and pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Step 6
Dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Take it out of the fridge and roll out the dough to about 3-5mm. Honestly, I have never, ever measured the thickness of my dough! It's usually a bit uneven but I like that. It means some of the biscuits are a bit thicker and some thinner. The thin ones bake faster so they are a bit browner and nuttier... All good. Using a cutter - can be 8cm but you choose what size biscuits you want - cut out the biscuits and put them on the baking sheet. You can prick them with a fork to get that shop-bought look, or not. I usually forget and it doesn't affect the taste.
Step 7
Bake for about 15-17 minutes depending on the size and thickness of your biscuits. Have a look and see, when they are the shade of brown that you like, take them out!
Cool on a wire rack.
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