Biscotti

I've been trying to get a good vegan biscotti recipe for a while. This isn't quite it but it's damn close. These are crunchy hard, almost too hard but just right for dunking.



80g oil (sunflower or whatever)
1 banana mashed well (this is about 100g)
50g cocoa powder
200g white sugar
225g plain flour
1 tsp. baking powder.
50g brazil nuts, roughly crushed.

Mix the oil with the very well mashed banana.

Sift all the dry ingredients except the nuts together.
Add the nuts.

Mix in the wet ingredients. It will form a fairly firm dough. Knead it with one hand for a few moments so that it comes together nicely, then divide into two parts and form each part into a flattened log shape about 10cm across and 25 cm long.

Put the shaped logs onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes at 180C. The loaves should rise a very little bit, just cracking the tops. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until it's comfortable to handle them.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150C. Slice the chocolate loaves with a very sharp knife into pieces about 1.5 cm wide. It's a bit crumbly at this stage so take care.

Lay the pieces back on the baking sheet and put back into the cooled oven for 15 minutes, then turn all the slices and give them another 15 minutes to crisp up.

Cool on a wire rack. They are extremely hard when just cooked but become a little more biteable after a day in a tightly closed biscuit tin.

Serve with strong coffee or our favourite, crumbled over vanilla icecream.