Lavender & Orange Biscotti with Spelt

I attended a Char-I-Tea this weekend with one of my Ladies’ groups. It was a festive and fun event for a worthy cause. The tables were decorated for Christmas, and we enjoyed food items appropriate for a high tea. We had different types of finger sandwiches, tea biscuits, cookies, and other delicious items. One of my contributions was this Lavender & Orange Biscotti made with Spelt flour.

Biscotti means twice-baked. This biscotti is flavored with fresh lavender and orange peel and a generous amount of toasted almonds. The toasted almonds give the cookies a beautiful golden color. I used lavender from my herb garden. It grows right next to the rosemary so it almost smells like rosemary instead of lavender. In fact, one of the ladies thought it was rosemary. I’m thinking a savory biscotti with rosemary would taste great. Maybe next time…

I liked the flavor and texture of this biscotti. You can definitely taste the lavender, but I think it could use more orange flavor. I was having problems with my hands this weekend so I used dried orange peel rather than grating it myself.  I think the fresh orange rind would boost the flavor. In fact, I almost squeezed the juice from the orange slices on top of the baked biscotti, but decided maybe not.  I didn’t want to make them soggy.

 

Lavender and Orange Spelt Biscotti

Adapted from: Biscotti with Lavender and Orange on MyRecipes.com

Makes: About 15 –20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh lavender
• 1 1/2 teaspoon powdered orange rind or 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups white Spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease a baking sheet.

2)  Add the butter, sugar, chopped lavender and orange rind in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed until the ingredients are well blended.  Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and beat until blended.

3) Combine the Spelt, baking powder, and salt, then gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat until blended.  Stir in the almonds and vanilla.

 

4) Shape the dough into a 10-inch log and place on the greased baking sheet. You can flour your hands if you like, but I used wet fingers for this part.

 

Flatten the log to 1-inch thickness.

 

5) Bake the log at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.  Remove the log to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

6) Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.  Cut the log diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices using a serrated knife.  You’ll need to use a gentle sawing motion for this part.  I had trouble with the cookie crumbing during so I think it would be better to slice the biscotti before baking it.

7) This time you’ll place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake them at 300 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the biscotti to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

This biscotti went over really well at the tea. Several of the ladies commented on it and asked if I was the one who had made it. They know me as the “bread lady.” Some of them even asked to take some home. I guess that means they liked it. 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy