Search for Recipes:

Home—Recent Recipes
Recipe Index
Blogs I Like
Search over 280 Veg Blogs
Outfit Your Kitchen
(And Support This Blog)


Currently Most Visited Pages
What's hot this week

My Favorite Lasagna
My Favorite Lasagna

Chocolate-Orange Cake
Chocolate-Orange Cake

Vegan Macaroni & Cheese
Easy Macaroni and Cheeze

Vegan Omelette for One
Vegan Omelette for One

Carrot Spice Muffins
Carrot Spice Muffins

Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches
Mini Crustless Tofu Quiches





Questions and Answers

More questions? First check my FAQs; then feel free to contact me at



Previous Posts

Posts by Topic

Cats | CORE* | Crock-Pot | Dogs | Eat to Live | E Cooks | Events | Flowers | Gardening | Gluten-Free* | Higher-Fat* | Holidays | Life | Louisiana | Nature | Pasta | Pressure Cooker | Ridiculously Easy | Southern Cooking | Soy | Travel

*CORE designation is an approximation; this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers International. Higher-fat recipes derive more than 15% calories from fat. Recipes marked gluten-free depend on use of gluten-free ingredients.

Archives

Friday, December 14, 2007

Fat-Free, Gluten-Free Gingerbread Biscotti

First the good news: Baking these biscotti made my house smell magical, like being inside a gingerbread house (without those nosy Hansel and Gretel or that mean old witch). Furthermore, my daughter loved them, which surprised me because I'd always considered biscotti a grownup cookie, hard and crunchy and meant for dipping into grownup drinks like coffee, tea, or wine. Who knew they'd taste great dipped in hot chocolate soymilk?

And now the bad: Just about everything that can go wrong did for my poor biscotti. I decided at the last minute to make two different versions, one using white whole wheat and one using gluten-free flour. Maybe that was too much change to ask of this recipe, which is based on one of my long-time favorites, but it's a miracle that they came out so good. More about all that later. First, the recipe:

Gingerbread Biscotti

Gingerbread Biscotti
(printer-friendly version)

2 cups flour (see note)
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon (packed) freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, all spices, and baking soda. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg replacer powder and water. Add it to the flour mixture, along with the molasses and vanilla. Mix well to combine. If the mixture is too dry and still crumbly, add a little more water a tablespoon at a time, just until the dough will hold together in a sticky ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in two. Shape each half into two logs about 2 inches wide. Place them on an oiled cookie sheet or silicone baking mat and flatten to about 1 inch high. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch slices on the diagonal. Place the slices cut-side down on the baking sheet and bake for 10 more minutes. Turn them over and bake for 8-10 more minutes. Remove from oven. Biscotti may seem soft at first but they will harden as they cool.

Note about flours: These turn out best with unbleached white flour. However, you can use a combination of white and white whole wheat, as I did in the ones pictured above. Use gluten-free flour at your own risk: mine, using Bob's Red Mill gluten-free baking mix, turned out gritty and, when dunked, mushy. I advise using another gluten-free flour.

Makes about 24 biscotti. Each one, using half whole wheat/half white flour, contains 54 Calories (kcal); trace Total Fat; (1% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 40mg Sodium; 1g Fiber.


So that's the official recipe. Here's what actually happened.

I don't know if it's because my flours were dryer than usual or if it's because of the change from using all unbleached white flour, but the amount of liquid in the recipe was not enough to moisten all the flour. I started adding water by the tablespoon and had to add about 4 of them to get a dough to form. I've made these several times before and never had that problem, so I'm assuming it was the flour. Don't be afraid to add more water if you have to, but don't make the dough too wet either.

Biscotti Loaves

This is what the rolls of biscotti looked like after they'd been flattened. (The gluten-free one is on the left.) Note that I actually flattened them too much or made them too wide. Here's what happened:

baked

The dough grew so much in the oven that the rolls were actually touching. This is not supposed to happen, so be sure you put your rolls far enough apart and don't make them too wide.

Funny thing, at this point, I thought that the gluten-free one looked better than the whole wheat. It's smoother and prettier. Little did I know...

Slicing Biscotti

Here I am slicing the whole wheat biscotti. This went well. However, slicing the gluten-free one was a different story. First, a big chunk of it tore off as I removed it from the silicone mat. Then, I could hardly slice it for the crumbling. Here's how it looked after slicing:

Gluten-free Biscotti

I put it on the baking sheet as best I could and decided to just pile all the crumbs in the middle and use them in place of graham cracker crumbs later.

Gluten-free Biscotti

In this photo, the whole wheat biscotti are in the front, the g-f crumbs are in the middle, and the g-f biscotti are in the back. Only two of my g-f biscotti were completely intact.

Gluten-free Biscotti

Besides falling apart more than the wheat biscotti, the gluten-free ones, pictured above, also burned a little on the ends. I had high hopes that they would at least taste good, but no such luck. Dry, they're grittier than the wheat biscotti and dunked, they turn to mush--the kind of mush that seems to grow as you chew it so that it takes forever to get out of your mouth. Now, with some other kind of gluten-free flour, these might taste great. Also, using another egg replacer--one that will bring some stretchability to the dough--might help with the crumbiness. Maybe I should have included xanthan gum.

I know that an experienced gluten-free cook like Karina or Ellen could work wonders on these. But for now I'll have to be satisfied that at least my whole wheat ones came out wonderfully crunchy, sweet, and zingy with gingery-spice flavor.




I don't make a lot of cookies. Let's face it, other than biscotti, most cookies depend on fat for their texture and flavor. Besides this recipe, the closest thing I make to a traditional Christmas cookie is Skinny Figgy Bars, created to imitate the fig bars my husband grew up eating every Christmas. But if you're looking for dozens of tasty cookie ideas, be sure to check out Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookies event. The entries look amazing--and some of them sound easily veganizable. I'm adding this one to the event so at least there'll be one fat-free entry!

Tags:

Labels: ,

Bookmark and Share AddThis Feed Button


22 Comments:

Blogger ~M said...

Yumm! Definitely check out the several varieties of gf biscotti that Brendon of somethinginseason.com has created. Ellen and Elise have both commented on its wonderfulness. In fact, if you google for "Brendon biscotti," the first page of links is full of references to his biscotti. I haven't tried them myself, but they look tasty. They seem to rely on straight brown rice flour (ie, not a mix) and a gum (xantham or guar); some have almond meal in them too, which could pair nicely with the spices you have listed. I really like Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour (gf) for its lack of grittiness and for its whole-graininess. Best of luck and happy December, Susan!

10:30 AM, December 14, 2007  
Anonymous Mary Frances @ www.glutenfreecookingschool.com said...

Hi Susan,

Those look great! I've never made biscotti before, but I'm tempted to play around with your recipe and see if I can get the gluten free to work. My guess is that they just need a little xanthan gum. That usually gets rid of the crumbliness.

I'll let you know if I have any success.

10:38 AM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger Lauren said...

Good idea about using the crumbled ones as a graham cracker crumb replacement!

11:11 AM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger S. said...

This is so crazy! I've been searching high and low for a Gingerbread Biscotti recipe. You so totally read my mind!

11:40 AM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger Susan from Food Blogga said...

Yeh! A fat-free cookie! I think I've gained 5 pounds just describing all of the cookies submitted to my event. ;) It's always a good sign when the kids like them too. I'm sure they're delicious and look forwards to making them. Thanks, Susan! -another Susan

11:58 AM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger julie hasson said...

I can't wait to give these biscotti a try Susan. How do you think they would be with half whole wheat pastry flour instead of the white wheat flour?

Thanks for sharing your recipes.

Julie

2:19 PM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger VeggieGirl said...

wow, I've NEVER seen a recipe for biscotti without margarine - thank you, Susan!! you're brilliant!! :0)

such a perfect, festive cookie to contribute to the Eat Christmas Cookies event!!

4:57 PM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger Karina said...

Hola Susan!

First- congrats on the nomination (I nominated Fatfree Vegan Kitchen for best theme blog) and of course, I voted for your blog. Good luck!

Second- good for you, trying these biscotti gluten-free. I'm sorry they didn't exactly meet your expectations. GF baking is tricky. And I still dump plenty of failures, even after six years.

Brendon is the Gluten-Free Biscotti God, so perhaps help awaits you there. That said- your regular flour biscotti look beautiful!

And your photography rocks!

xoxo

Karina

6:06 PM, December 14, 2007  
OpenID vegeyum said...

I have never made biscotti before. Yours look so good.

8:06 PM, December 14, 2007  
Blogger maybepigscanfly said...

I always think that as long as something smells wonderful while it is baking- then it was worth it, even if the goods end up looking bad or get all crumbly. If E liked them then I'm sure that I would have loved them and had fun dunking them in my tea!

10:10 AM, December 15, 2007  
Blogger Alisa said...

Ah ginger, I love the holidays! Those biscotti look awesome, but I must admit I am still a bit intimidated and lacking Ener-G.

1:44 PM, December 15, 2007  
Blogger Judy said...

I, like you, have very little luck slicing biscotti. My mom really likes biscotti, so I keep making it, or attempting to, convinced that one day it will turn out. We'll see.

6:53 PM, December 15, 2007  
Blogger Dani Spies said...

Congrats on the nomination!!
I LOVE gingerbread...and can't wait to try these.
You're photos are fantastic!

9:47 AM, December 16, 2007  
Anonymous Mike said...

I just finished making these and they're fantastic! They've got the perfect mix of spice and sweetness and mine are still a tad soft on the inside (which is good!)

10:10 AM, December 16, 2007  
Blogger SusanV said...

Thanks, everybody! If I could I would have you all over for coffee and biscotti.

Julie--I use white whole wheat interchangeably with pastry flour, so I'm pretty sure it would work. Hope you enjoy!

Karina--I saw that Brendon had done biscotti, and I really should have linked to him. Thanks for reminding me!

Mike--I'm so glad you enjoyed them! I kind of like a little softness on the inside too, but sometimes they don't come out that way. It seems to be all in the timing.

2:41 PM, December 16, 2007  
Blogger Helena said...

looks great! I am so impressed by you initiative to not only make one batch of biscotti but two. I'd definitely love to have some of those to go with Christmas dessert this year (we always have family friends over for tea, coffee and dessert)

6:16 PM, December 16, 2007  
Blogger theONLYtania said...

Thanks for the recipe, sounds delicious! I'd love to try it.

12:55 AM, December 17, 2007  
Blogger rusvaplaukė said...

These were awesome. I made a half batch and.. ate them all by myself with my evening tea and coffee. How unthoughtful of me. On the other hand, I had baked some lemon-poppyseed swirl shortbread before, so Mom and Dad weren't left alone. And hungry.
I added some chopped almonds. That increases the fat factor a bit, but that's not too big of a deal for me.

11:51 AM, December 18, 2007  
Anonymous Stitchin' Sheep said...

I recently used that same GF flour mix for a chocolate birthday cake. Horribly dry. Not worth the effort and so sad after seeing how tasty it looked.

Bette Hagmann's GF flour mixtures are much better. A mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch flour makes a nice sub for wheat flour in baking.

As for the crumbling: it's the gluten that helps bind the ingredients in baked goods. When doing it GF, you need something else to bind. Many GF recipes have tons of eggs to serve this purpose. Others use xanthan gum, which works nicely to make a less crumbly end product.

I'm still experimenting with GF baking since I recently found out I'm allergic to wheat. I haven't gotten in all down yet, but I've found a few tricks over the past month or so.

6:12 AM, December 24, 2007  
Blogger Sheltie Girl said...

I take my hat off to you for trying out the gluten free flours. It can take a while to get the hang of baking without gluten. There are several differences: texture of the uncooked dough, what the dough will do when cooking, and needing a binder strong enough to hold your baked item together. Many people use eggs or xanthan gum, but there are quite a few other options too.

Happy Holidays!

Sheltie Girl @ Gluten A Go Go

8:04 AM, December 27, 2007  
Blogger Lisa LaMendola said...

I had to come back and tell you that I made these for the holidays and YUMMO! OMG! No one knew they were GF and Vegan!

Thanks for all you do! You deserve more awards!

8:31 AM, December 28, 2007  
Anonymous ross@gladtobegluten-free.com said...

Hi, and thanks so much for your blog. I googled looking for gluten free bread recipes and somehow ended up on your great blog.

Glad I did as I have bookmarked and will return.

We eat gluten free because of my wife Jackie's intolerance. I have esophogitis and some breads seems to upset me.

Jackie is convinced it is the wheat in the bread that upsets me and wants me to go gluten free to test her theory.

With every tummy upset I have, she is getting closer to her wish. Thanks again for the great blog.

Regards, Ross.

12:37 AM, May 08, 2008  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home