Eggless Pistachio Apricot Orange Biscotti

This is the dish selected for the Baking Eggless group challenge this month. The recipe is from Baking Obsession website and the members needed to recreate the biscotti with out using eggs. Biscotti is an Italian biscuit which has been baked twice. For me it is quite a challenge. Earlier when I tried biscottis, they cracked a lot and slicing them was so hard. They were very crumble and though they tasted good they were not up to the mark. So this time, I wanted to get it good. Even this time the biscotti cracked after the first baking and I had a tough time slicing it up. But the result after the second baking turned out much better than the last time. They were nice and crispy with a lot of flavours. Orange dominated other flavours. The original recipe had orange blossom water in it. As we don’t get orange blossom water in Madurai, I substituted it with orange essence. the crunchy pistachios and tangy apricots made the biscotti a beautiful experience. But still I am in the look out for the recipe in which the biscotti never cracks.

Recipe Adapted From Baking Obsession
Ingredients:
Granulated Sugar-1cup
All Purpose Flour-2 1/4cups
Baking Powder-1 1/4tsp
Salt-1/2tsp
Butter-1/2cup
Zest of One Orange
Orange Essence-1tsp
Vanilla Essence-1tsp
Milk-1/2cup
Apple cider Vinegar-1tsp
Pistachios-1cup
Dried Chopped Apricot-1cup

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. In a bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add the zest, orange essence and vanilla essence and mix well.
5. Add milk and vinegar and beat until creamy.
6. Add in the pistachios and chopped apricots.
7. Add the flour and make a soft and sticky dough.
8. Divide the dough into two equal parts.
9. Shape each portion into a log and place them on a greased baking tray.
10. Bake it for 25-30 minutes or until firm to touch.
11. Remove from oven and allow it to cool.
12. Slice the logs with a serrated knife into thin slices.
13. Preheat oven to 150C.
14. Place the slices on the baking tray and bake the slices completely dry.
15. Remove from oven and allow it to cool completely.
16. They stayed crispy for 2 days. Store in air tight jar and serve it along with a cup of coffee.