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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Bake some Heath Bar Biscotti


A few months ago we had a family over for dinner and she brought me a lovely gift basket filled with treats...  special teas, espresso powder, etc. and these delightful homemade biscotti!  The recipe has been around a while, apparently she got it out of the Washington Post and it can be found online in several places.  I adapted it by leaving the butterscotch extract out and replacing the chopped up candy bar with Heath English Toffee bits. I also used pecan halves...  not sure why the original recipe called for whole pecans.  Worked just fine and tasted great!

You'll need:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Heath English Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits 
  • 1/2 cup pecan halves

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream the oil, granulated and brown sugars together until well blended. Stir in vanilla extract. Blend in eggs.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt together and then fold into batter. Fold in toffee bits and pecans.

Place batter on baking sheet (it will be thick and a little sticky) and form it into two logs, each about 10 to 12 inches long about 3 inches in width.  (Flatten the logs slightly -- it's more like a long rectangle.)  Bake in preheated oven until set, about 25 minutes. Cool very thoroughly.

This was the first batch, tiniest bit underdone.  The second batch got a bit more brown.

With a sharp knife (serrated might work well for you, experiment or you could also try a pizza cutter), slice the logs in strips (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide) and return them, cut side down, to baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven first on one side, about 12 minutes, then turn over and bake other side about 5 minutes, or a little longer to desired level of brown.  If you bake them a bit longer they will be a bit more crunchy and taste more caramelized, but watch carefully so you don't over-do it and burn them! Cool well.