White Flour Substitute

Last time we made biscotti I was a little disappointed. I felt like we needed more flavor…WELL TA-DAH… that is what Chef Brads Twice- Baked Biscotti is. It has orange zest, orange juice, and anise seed in it. Although I do have to say that I thought the texture of the first biscotti was better than this one. All in all I did like this recipe, and because of the orange and anise seed it wasn’t just plain-jane Biscotti. However I think that next time I am going to dip it into melted white chocolate which will only make it better!

 Round up all of your ingredients.

Now I couldn’t find crushed Anise Seed, in fact it was pretty hard to find Anise Seed in general. So not only was I able to find just Anise Seed, but I was able to finally get a mortar and pestle. I seriously felt like I was Julia Child, I’m still so excited about it! But just put my silly imagination aside, pour your anise seed into the mortar, and grind it.

(I won’t lie, it was really fun to use my new toy.)

 Next I got my oranges and zested them. I have to warn you though, PLEASE watch your fingers when zesting! I accidentally zested a little bit of my finger and it didn’t feel too good!

Next combine your sugar, butter, crushed anise seed, orange juice, zest, & vanilla and mix well.

Then beat in your eggs

Add in your WonderFlour and baking powder and mix well.

Note: I made a half batch which was more than plenty. But when adding the WonderFlour I had to add five cups because Chef Brad said that the dough should not be sticky. Well, it took me five cups to not be sticky…something to think about when making your Italian Biscotti.

 Now add in the nuts of your choice and mix into your dough. (I chose pecans because that’s what I had in my pantry!)

Dump it out of your mixer and roll it into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours.

 Remove from the fridge

Now form two loafs on your pan, as long as the pan and 2-3 inches wide and about ½ inch thick.

As you can see my measurements may be a little off. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees then remove and cut –like in our last Biscotti recipe.

Replace back on the pan and bake for another 10 min. (Hence the term, TWICE BAKED Italian Biscotti.) Remove and let it cool and ENJOY!

So Until Next Time…

In the back of Chef Brads cook book there were some drink recipes. And even though I am seriously in love with food, drinks come in close second. I figured it was about time to try my hand and palette at one. How does Mango Pineapple Cream sound? Yes I thought fantastic too! It was actually pretty good, however the only change I would change is to either chuck some ice in the blender along with the drink making it into a slushy, or I would serve it over ice. (I think I would rather make it into a slushy but this tasted very good!) I would really recommend this drink because it was quick, easy, and good!

 Gather your FEW ingredients.

Cut your fruit into chunks.

(Mango on the left and Pineapple on the right)

Then put all of your ingredients into the blender.

And blend away, pour it into a glass, and enjoy!

So until next time….

I really loved this recipe! I was hesitant when I saw that I would be cooking with dates though. Honestly I’m not a big date fan, but low-and-behold I really really liked this this “pudding”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was more of a cake and not really a pudding. I’m not exactly sure why it’s called sticky toffee pudding and not sticky toffee cake. If anyone else knows then please explain it to me! Call it what you like, cake or pudding…I LOVED IT, as did my husband and mother and everyone at my husband’s work. This is definitely a keeper so let’s talk Sticky Toffee Pudding!

Gather up your ingredients.

Start by bring your dates to a boil in a cup of water and baking soda until the dates are mushy.

Then cream your butter and sugar.

Now beat in your eggs and flour and vanilla.

Pour your date mixture into your flour mixture.

Pour mixture into your greased pan. Chef Brad suggests an 11×7. However, I had to use a 9×13 and bake for 35-45 min in an oven at 350.

Once the cake is done let it cool. While cooling it’s time to make the sauce…CONFESSION TIME! I doubled the sauce…you can never have too much delicious caramel sauce!

 Start by melting your butter. Add your brown sugar, and heavy cream.

Heat the sauce until it thickens.

 Now cut the cake into portions and pour the part of the sauce over all the cracks until it fills them all!

I saved the rest of the sauce to pour over and heat it up later, oh it was soooo good!

So Until Next Time…

I’ve always heard about Biscotti and all I have ever thought is that they were EXTREMELY DRY cookies that looked like something I would feed to my dog…Well that is if my husband ever comes to my way of thinking and caves in and we get one! But all that put aside, I made Biscotti and it wasn’t too hard. In all honesty it really wasn’t too bad. I think if I had a big cup of Hot Chocolate to dip it in I would have liked it much better. My mom on the other hand ate at least four pieces! I think the only thing I would have changed would be to add some sort of flavor to it like a White Chocolate Orange Biscotti, or Cherry Almond Biscotti. Maybe next time I will drizzle some chocolate over it…mmmmm, so many possibilities! Feel free to try it on your first go-round. But for now we are making Biscotti, so gather your ingredients.

Combine the dry ingredients

And set them aside…Mix your wet ingredients

Add your wet to your dry and mix well

Dump your dough out of the bowl and shape into two loafs about 12 x 3 x 1 ½  inches

 Bake the loaves at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Once baked cut the loaves diagonally in ½ inch slices, flip them down, and bake for 12 min.

Then flip and bake for another 10 min or until dry and crisp.

These really didn’t turn out bad, and I think next time I will add a little treat like chocolate, or maybe a nice dried fruit…honestly the possibilities are endless! Give them a try and let me know how it turns out – if you liked it, or if you enjoyed it just the way it is.

Until next time …

I just have to start by saying…I LOVED THIS RECIPE… Like A Lot!!! It is honestly one of the best WHITE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES recipes I have ever made. They are thick, buttery, chocolatey, and topped with white chocolate and cream cheese Heath Bar frosting. This is a MUST recipe. My husband took these to a bachelor party and he told me they were an instant hit! One friend ate six of them!  Okay I can’t stop raving about them, so I guess I better just get to the recipe…

 Gather your ingredients

Whisk eggs and vanilla together.

Melt your white chocolate chips and your butter together.

Now add your egg mixture to the melted mixture.

I’m always worried about scrambling my eggs, so I tempered my melted mixture slowly into my eggs mixture so that it would not happen, but it’s your call.

 Now add all the other ingredients and mix together.

Pour into a jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for about 40 min.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least two hours before frosting and cutting.

Now is the time to get your ingredients ready for the BOMB of all frostings!

First melt the butter and white chocolate together.

Put your cream cheese, half and half, vanilla, and now your melted butter/chocolate mix in a food processor and mix it all together.

Dump your Heath pieces and powdered sugar into the processor and mix until well combined.

The last step is to spread that amazing frosting all over the cooled brownies!

Finally…EAT THEM! One at a time, but keep some milk nearby for good measure.

Until next time…