If you're not full of Halloween candy, maybe you'd like a cookie that's sweet, crunchy, and subtly flavored: Caramel and White Chocolate Biscotti. The little cookies can be made on one cookie sheet, limiting preparation and clean-up time, and the recipe makes a small batch, so the cookies will offer you limited temptation. The caramel flavor comes from brown sugar and caramel extract and is echoed with nutty white whole-wheat flour. A touch of cinnamon adds more flavor and interest. Creamy, sweet white chocolate tops the cookies. You can drizzle the white chocolate on the biscotti or paint it on with a spoon. A dusting of cinnamon tops the cookies. The biscotti are great with coffee or tea, and they make great accompaniments to fresh fruit.
Caramel and White Chocolate Biscotti -- Makes 18-24
1/3 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of caramel extract
1 cup of white whole-wheat flour
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
1/2-3/4 cup of white chocolate morsels (1/2 cup for drizzling or 3/4 cup for
painting)
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugars, eggs, and caramel extract and beat them until they are well combined. Stir in the flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix the dough until no white streaks remain and the dough is firm and pliable. Form two logs, each about 8-9 inches long and about 1-2 inches wide, on the prepared cookie sheet. Space the logs 2-3 inches apart. Bake the logs for about 25 minutes or until they are puffed and just firm to the touch. Remove the logs from the oven and let them cool for 2-3 minutes. With a sharp knife (a ceramic knife works best) and cutting cross-wise, cut each log into slices, making each slice about 3/4-1-inch wide. Turn the slices flat, cut-side down, on the cookie sheet and return them to the oven for about 10 minutes. Flip the slices and bake them for another 10 minutes (they may seem a little soft, but they'll continue to harden as they stand). Remove the biscotti from the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes while you melt the white chocolate. To melt the white chocolate, pour the morsels into a glass measuring cup and microwave them on high in 15 second increments, stirring them after each 15-second stint in the microwave, until they melt and reach a smooth consistency. Drizzle or paint the biscotti with the white chocolate. Before the white chocolate hardens, dust each biscotti with a little cinnamon. Let the biscotti stand until the white chocolate hardens.
