Fabulous biscotti

My mum and I have a sweet tooth, we like to mess around with pots and pans, mixing different flours and creating new recipes. This winter we invented new biscuit recipes that we gave as presents for Christmas and also enjoyed throughout the cold winter time, which was chillier in Rome than in Surrey this year. I experimented with new recipes using juniper berries, kamut flour and cinnamon sticks, and created jam dumplings with an excellent homemade cornelian cherry jam made by my mother in law. I have also a special connection with a Sicilian lady I regularly meet at the Italian mass in Woking and at the Italian club. She gave me some exceptional Sicilian biscuits after Christmas and I asked her for the recipe. Here below are the end products of our hard work and tests.

Juniper berries flowers

You need: 150 g of semolina flour, 150 g of self raising white flour, 100 g of Demerara sugar, 100 g of melted butter, 2 eggs, 15 g of juniper berries, the juice and zest of a lemon.

Crush the berries in a mortar together with two tbsp. of Demerara sugar and the juice of a lemon. In a bowl, mix the flours with the eggs and the sugar. Add the berry mixture, the butter, and the grated zest of a lemon. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour. Roll the dough out and cut the biscuits, I used a biscuit cutter in the form of a flower. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.

Jam Dumplings

You need: 300 g of flour, 2 eggs, 100 g of melted butter, 100 g of sugar, 2 tbsp. of milk, and jam.

Beat the eggs in the flour then add the sugar, milk and the butter. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour. Roll the dough out and cut squares of about 2-3 inches. Put a tsp of jam in the middle of the square and fold two of the angles forming a rhomboid shape. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.

Torcetti (twisted little donuts)

You need: 300 g of kamut flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, 100 g of sugar, 5 tbsp. of sunflower oil, 3 tbsp. of wine, 2 eggs, half a tsp of nutmeg.

Beat the eggs in the flour then add all the other ingredients. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour. Roll pieces of dough in strips, bring the ends together, one over the other, and pinch. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.

Chocolate hearts

You need: 150 g of flour, 100 of cocoa powder, 1 tsp of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 3 eggs, 100 g of sugar, 100 g of ground almonds, 100 g of melted butter.

Beat the eggs in the flour then add all the other ingredients. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour. Roll the dough out and cut the biscuits, I used a biscuit cutter in the form of a heart. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.

Cinnamon stars

You need: 300 g of flour, 2 eggs, 100 g of sugar, 80 g of melted butter, 1 tsp of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 3 cinnamon sticks and 5 cloves, 100 ml of milk.

Boil the cinnamon sticks and the cloves in the milk. Beat the eggs in the flour then add the sugar, butter, salt and baking powder. Add the milk without the cinnamon stick and cloves. Knead the dough and let it rest for half an hour. Roll the dough out and cut the biscuits, I used a biscuit cutter in the form of a star. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.

Sicilian biscuits

For the dough you need: 500 g of white flour, 150 g of sugar, 150 g of lard, some water.

For the filling you need: 250 g of almonds, 200 g of honey, the grated zest of an orange, cinnamon.

Mix the flour with the lard, add some water if necessary. Add the sugar and knead it till smooth. Chill it for one hour. For the filling, roast the almonds slightly in the oven then grind them in a blender. Boil the honey with the ground almonds and the grated zest of the orange. Add some cinnamon as well. Cut stripes of dough using a pastry cutting wheel and fill the centre with the almond and honey mixture. Fold the sides and shape the biscuits in a donut or twist it in a sort of swirl. Finally, set the biscuits on a greased oven tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°.