Make it, Bake it

It is time to share some goodness.  I made these the other night and they were a big hit at my house. I love gingerbread and biscotti. Blending these two together is a wonderful way, to enjoy one of the cookies of the season.( a bit easier, too)  I found this recipe over at allrecipes.  I usually change one thing; I melted white chocolate and drizzled it over the biscotti. The cookie suggested a lemon glaze.  I love lemon, but rather have these two flavors separate.  Anyway you choose to make it; I'm sure it will be wonderful. Orange extract in a glaze might be nice, too.  Spice rules in these cookies. If you are curious here is a bit of gingerbread history.


                               These spicy Italian cookies will elevate your coffee, tea or hot chocolate!

INGREDIENTS:


1/3 c. vegetable oil , 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 eggs, 1/4 c. molasses, 2 1/4c all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger(yes,tablespoons), 3/4 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tbsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp(yes, teaspoon) nutmeg.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 F or 190 degrees C.  Grease a cookie sheet.  In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, and spices.  Mix wet into dry ingredients. Mixture will form a stiff dough.  Divide dough in half and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie sheet. (I used a bit of flour and shaped the dough into two logs). The dough should be flat and the thickness about 1/2 an inch.   Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, set aside to cool. This is where I have trouble. My elves like 1/2 baked cookies or unoscotti not biscotti.  I like biscotti. This is when 1/2 of  my cookies disappear.  When cool to your touch, cut on a diagonal, into  1/2 " slices. Place cookies on a cookie sheet and bake again, I set my oven for 250 F and bake 10-15 minutes. Check and see, after 10 minutes. They should be toasted and crispy.  While cookies are resting on wired racks, make your topping. I melt 1/2 a bag of white chocolate chips with 1 tsp of vegetable oil.  I microwave the chocolate for 30 sec and stir. I do this until almost melted and then give it a final stir. Now, you can drizzle or dunk your cookies. Whatever you prefer!  Beware of elves while you cook, they are sneaky ;D   

If you prefer an easier recipe. I found this one using a cake mix. This recipe is for Cinnamon biscotti, but the combos are endless.



A  French vanilla cake mix(size for a 13x9x2 pan) I use an ordinary cake mix, no pudding ones.
You will use this mix dry, as is and add the following:

 In large bowl mix into the dry mix, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup all purpose flour. Mix and shape into a log. I added 1/2 a bag of Cinnamon chips. You could add chips and nuts, dried fruit, whatever you like.  Think of all the combos:  chocolate chip mix, chocolate chips, dried cherries. You could make a festive type with a white cake mix, dried cranberries and pistachios.The options are endless...
Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes.  Cool and cut on the diagonal and bake again or not at 250 F for 10-15 minutes.   enJOY!   Again glaze or drizzle with melted chocolate or not~










Comments

Can I just come to your house and eat the ones you baked? Because those look delicious!
Ella said…
Alex-Yes! :D Wait did the elves eat them all?! Yes, but I can always bake more, lol
Kay L. Davies said…
Oh yum! I've been wondering what to take tomorrow night, and I have a cake mix in the cupboard, so I'll make biscotti. There will be lots of coffee-drinking going on at this particular gathering, so biscotti will be perfect.
Oh, I don't have eggs. Phooey. My gerontologist (I'm much too young to have a gerontologist) told me to stop eating eggs because my cholesterol had started to climb. Good grief.
I'll get eggs anyway. It's Christmas time, I'll have to bake something else, I'm sure.
Those butterscotch chips in your photo are driving me bananas, but I don't think bananas really go with butterscotch, do they?
K
Mary said…
Oh, goodness, my mouth is truly watering now! I would love to have one of these to eat RIGHT now. (Good thing I don't, as I am sure I would have more than one.)
Hi Ella .. a good gingerbread is delicious .. love spiced biscuits .. Christmas is a great time for rich exotic flavours .. enjoy and I too would love to join you for coffee or tea .. Cheers Hilary
Amanda Trought said…
Hey Ella, the recipes sound delicious and they look scrumtious, I'll have mine with a cappuchino, two sugars and some chocolate spinkle on top, great to hear from you:D Amandaxx
Looks delicious, what would you do if ALL your followers arrived at your doorstep.?

Yvonne.
Ella said…
Yvonne-I would have a baking party! I have plenty of tea and we would order pizza and have lots of laughs!
What a great time, we would have :D
Thank you!

Amanda-I'm a Cap girl, too...love them! Chocolate sprinkles...yum!
Your quotes and photos are beautiful!

Hilary-If you see my other post...you will see what else I did with tea ;D I would love to meet you! I see you as a great hostess :D

Mary-I wish I could pass them out...they are good! I made some for hubby to take to work. The biscotti was the most popular over the other goodies! My one=two, I made them big! :D Yes, you could have more than one~

Kay-Thank you Kay! This is really easy. You don't have to bake them twice, you can add white chocolate chips or whatever you like. Endless combinations make it fun!

Check out Dr. Oz, I think eggs have been given a bad rap. It is cheese, beef, etc. You can count your cholesterol and include it.

Thyroid will up your cholesterol no matter what you eat. You might want to get it checked. You could be a vegan with high cholesterol and it be up, because the thyroid is off. Take Care!

Oh, the chips are cinnamon, but I bet butterscotch and banana would go well! :D
Scarlett Clay said…
YUMMMMMMMM! I've never heard of Hershey's cinnamon chips, bet they are good! :)

~Scarlett
Ella said…
Scarlett-They are amazing! Think of all the combos! :D