Biscotti

The kids love when we make dog biscuits, Pepper paces back and forth in the kitchen hoping we break one because she knows she'll get it. Biscotti days are far less interesting for them, but far more for us.

Nom nom for us! FYI, today was even more fun because the first batch wasn't quite up to par. It tasted great but it was too moist and it will get stale in a week (just means we have to eat it before then!).

This recipe is an at home adaptation of the Veganomicom version (pg 241). I once read, and truly believe that if you want to make a recipe your own, first master it the way it is written and then play with the variations of it. We, of course, highly recomend that you order some from us to help out our lil Toby. But, if you did want to try this at home, here's a couple things to note.

Egg replacer - the recipe calls for almond/soy milk and flax seed as an egg replacer, stick with that for this one! You need the wet volume of the milk, which we prefer almond. Vero still prefers to dip them in soy milk but let's face it, you're working with almonds so the flavors will definitely work. The one exception is chocolate soy milk, of course there are few things in life chocolate soy milk can't solve. Oh, and the flax, use flax meal. Ground flax and flax meal aren't always created equal and the finer the grind, the better the biscotti. We have been known to throw our flax meal in the vitamix just to get the fine grind. And add a bit more, like 2.5 tbsps instead of just 2. Well, add the 2 and then if you have a liquid, add more, if you have a slightly gooeyness that drips slowly, you're set.

Flour - we try to use rye or whole wheat flour whenever possible, neither of us are particularly gluten sensitive but they're simpy better. For this one though, depends on what you want to. Biscotti are pretty thick to begin with so the whole wheat pastry flour will come out thicker, and the best bet is to cook it less and go for a moister texture. If you really want to make biscotti, go with the all purpose flour.

Hazelnuts - Really, sorry hazelnuts, it's not you, it's me. Go almonds, and go combo of sliced and whole. The combo will hold it together better and requires less of them.

Amaretto - cause once you taste this with almons, you'll know you need it. Not too much though.

Finally, Ghirardelli cocoa. We love the weather in the bay area. We love the gorgeous landscape, the number of things to do, the great people. And we love that Ghirardelli is everywhere! Like when you walk in the store thinking, "self, you've worked real hard and rather than get some generic cocoa to bake with, you deserve the good stuff." Then you look and excited you says "Dude, self, check it out, Ghirardelli is actually cheaper than any off brand!", "Score, self, everything's coming up Milhouse!"

Hoping you're hungry! Toby is eating today, ate a bit too much and a bit came back. Not the worst thing in the world except he made a mess and earned himself a bath. That, in his mind, is the worst thing. We're heading back in an hour or so and will post some more pics of him.