Lisa Ks Book Reviews

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Christmas is coming!

So many things come to mind when thinking of Christmas, and they all bring a smile to my face.

One of the things that brings the biggest smile?

COOKIES!!!

Luckily for cozy fans, there are tons of tasty cookie recipes in many of our favorite cozy mysteries!

Every Tuesday, now until Christmas . . . . .

We're out of Tuesdays, so why not a Wednesday?

Today's cookie is from

FINAL SENTENCE

Daryl Wood Gerber

This recipe can also be found in

THE COZY COOKBOOK

AUNT VERA'S GLUTEN-FREE

ORANGE-CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI

All food photos are courtesy of Googles Images.

You biscotti may differ in appearance.

Oh, how I adore making cookies. I love time-intensive cookies, the kind I can sink my hands into. Hands, as you might have figured out, have great meaning to me. They are the symbolic equivalent of power and balance. With your hands, you can make delicious foods as well as bring comfort. These biscotti, which I have chosen to make gluten-free because on of my dearest friends cannot eat wheat, are a wonderful combination of textures and the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee or tea. (I have made these same cookies using regular flour. Just substitute regular flour for the sweet rice flour and tapioca starch. You won't need the xanthan gum, a magical ingredient for gluten-free bakers.) ~ Aunt Vera

Note: This recipe takes no time to put together, but the dough takes a long time to bake.

MAKES 30 TO 36 BISCOTTI

Ingredients

1 cup sweet rice flour

¾ cup tapioca starch

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

¾ cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon orange extract

Grated zest of ½ orange

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper, or grease the cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, mix sweet rice flour, tapioca starch (do not tamp down), xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and orange extract. Over the top of the bowl, grate the orange zest. Add the orange juice. Mix in the gluten-free flour mixture. Then stir in the chocolate chips. The mixture will be cookie-dough consistency---gooey.

Scrape the batter, in 2 skinny lines, the full length of the cookies sheet, leaving 3 inches between lines. Use a spatula to clean up the strips. If necessary, rinse the spatula with hot water.

Put the cookie sheet on the lower rack and bake for 15 minutes. Turn pan front to back and bake another 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove the pan and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Leave the oven on.

Using a spatula, transfer the baked strips to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves on a diagonal into ½-inch-wide slices. Place the cookies on their narrow sides to "stand", this time on an unlined cookie sheet, at least ½ inch apart. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. If necessary, rotate the pans halfway through the baking process so the cookies are evenly baked.

Cool the biscotti completely before storing. These may be kept in an airtight container for a few weeks. They are fabulous dipped into a cup of coffee.