Crisp and Delicious Gluten-Free Chocolate Biscotti

It is a memory you will always hold dear: that last day of vacation in Italy, when you and your beloved sat at that outdoor café and you both had that delicious biscotti, dunked it in that equally delicious cappuccino, before you started off on that day of romance, culture, fun, and adventure.

Maybe this doesn’t bring back memories, mostly because you’ve never been to Italy. Maybe you don’t have the time or the money to go there—but at least you can create some memories by indulging in homemade, gluten-free biscotti, with the recipe at the end of this article.

But first—besides being delicious, biscotti have an interesting story (not really a claim that most snacks can make):

1. The word “biscotti” means “twice-baked” (if you’ve never made biscotti before, you will find out in the following recipe that this name does indeed fit). “Biscotti” is a medieval Latin word.
2. Baking the treat twice not only makes it crunchy, but long ago it made biscotti a good food for taking on the road—it was light and lasted for a long time (it also lasted for a long time because it had no fats that would go bad).
3. Biscotti may have actually contributed to the vast empire of the Romans. Because it lasts for such a long time, Roman soldiers could travel far while eating well.
4. Back then, biscotti was originally flavored with almonds. Today popular biscotti varieties include biscotti with lemon, nuts, cherries, blueberries, orange, cranberry, and, of course, chocolate. Biscotti with frosting, or covered in melted chocolate, is also a favorite.
5. Biscotti goes well with a surprising variety of food and beverages. People eat biscotti with coffee, tea, cappuccino, wine, ice cream or a nice frosty glass of milk.
6. Biscotti arrived in North America when Christopher Columbus brought it with him.
7. If you are feeling particularly decadent, biscotti makes a great crust for cheesecake.
8. In other countries, versions of biscotti are known as rusks (England), zwieback (Germany), and sukhariki (Russia).

 

Are you in the mood for biscotti yet? Perhaps you are, but you are afraid there is no such thing as gluten-free biscotti that is delicious? Fear not—here is a gluten-free chocolate biscotti recipe for you to make and enjoy!

You’ll need…

1 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup light stoneground buckwheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup mini chocolate chip
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the rice flour, potato starch, buckwheat flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, egg white, and eggs. Beat with a fork.

Combine egg mixture and flour mixture to make dough (dough may feel dry). Knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Form into an oval roll, about 1 1/2 ” thick in the center. Place on a baking sheet that has been lightly greased.

Put in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Place on a wire rack until cool. Cut diagonally into ½” slices.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Place back into the oven, cut side down on the baking sheet, for 10 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let them cool on a wire rack. The center of the biscotti may be soft, but as it cools it will harden.

 

Is there anything more wonderful than a biscotti cookie dunked into a cup of hot coffee? It’s almost as good as a trip to Italy.