Looking for an unusual Biscotti Recipe? This Fig and Fennel Biscotti is an unusual combination, but so delicious!
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I Make a Lot of Biscotti Recipes!
I make a lot of biscotti recipes. I've made biscotti with a wet dough and biscotti that have very dry crumbly doughs. The type of dough doesn't really seem to effect the biscotti, though some do seem to come out a little more chewy than crunchy.
Click here to pin this Fig and Fennel Biscotti.
Very Dry Dough - But That's Okay!
I am always on the lookout for biscotti recipes, so when I found Fig and Fennel at Sweet Paul, I eagerly put it on the menu. It sounded like an intriguing combination. As I started doing the recipe, I noticed some things that didn't seem right. Like a lot of biscotti recipes, you mix up dry ingredients, mix up wet ingredients and then combine. The instructions said to mix until just combined. This was one of those very, very dry crumbly doughs. There was no mix until just combined. Since I've worked with lots of very dry doughs, I know that I usually end up almost kneading them to get them to stick together, which is what I had to do with this dough.
Just shape into a rectangle.
Next the instructions said to pour it onto the baking sheet. Pour? Maybe that was just a strange choice of words. Very rarely do I pour dough. I just scooped it out of the bowl and patted it together into the rectangle that was called for.
Fig and Fennel Biscotti - Wonderful!!!
Next the instructions said to bake until edges are golden and center is set. Again, that's pretty unusual. I don't think about a log of biscotti as being set. But I took it out after the recommended time and let it cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Here is where I ran into more problems. It was barely cooked in the center, very gooey. It was hard to cut into slices because the dough was sticking to the knife. I finally got it cut and put it back in the oven for it's second baking. It suggested a baking time of 20 minutes, which is longer than usual for the second bake. I actually baked it for 25 minutes just to make sure it crisped up. So, I increased the first baking time by about 10 minutes.
Now, you might wonder why I am posting this if I had so many questions about the recipe. Simply because they were wonderful!! The figs make them sweet and the fennel adds almost a savory flavor. They have the most intriguing flavor. We loved them.
Fig and Fennel Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ orange zested
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup hazelnuts lightly toasted
- ½ cup dried figs roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, fennel seeds, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, olive oil and orange zest. Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition.
- Add flour mixture to wet ingredients. Stir. Dough may be very dry. Fold in hazelnuts and figs. If dough is too crumbly add a drop or two of olive oil.
- Place dough on baking sheet and pat into a 12x5 rectangle. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300. Place on a cooling rack and let cool for 15 minutes.
- Using a serrated knife cut the biscotti in ½ inch slices. Arrange on baking sheet, cut side down. Bake again until dry and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove from baking sheet and place on cooling rack. Let cool completely.
Nutrition
Some other biscotti recipes you might like:
April J Harris says
Fig and Fennel really are an intriguing combination, Pam! Your biscotti sound delicious and it was great the way you talked us through the recipe, its good points and bad. The finished result certainly looks and sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop. Hope to see you again this week!
Miz Helen says
What a beautiful presentation for your Fig and Fennel Biscotti, it looks fantastic! Hope you have a very special week and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Miz Helen
Joy @ Joy Love Food says
We love biscotti at my house too, this sounds like a wonderful combination of flavors, I will need to try it! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend?!
Erlene A says
Love trying new things and this is an interesting flavor combo for biscotti. Thanks for sharing it on Merry Monday.
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
What a lovely combination of flavors! So unexpected. I adore the way you used the flowers in the photo too.
Pam Greer says
Thank you!
Laura @MotherWouldKnow says
I love biscotti, especially ones with unusual flavor combinations - like fig and fennel. I can sympathize with your experience, reading directions that don't have much to do with the reality of baking/cooking the recipe. Happens all too often.
Pam Greer says
You would love these!
Marjie says
The look so pretty all tied up like that! The different flavors sound great together.
Pam Greer says
They weren't all that attractive, so I decided they needed a little wrap!
Olivia @ livforcake says
These sound delicious! I haven't made biscotti in ages, but these are now on my list!
AnnMarie says
What an intriguing flavor combination! I bake a lot of biscotti also so I must try these. Besides I just love anything fig. Thanks for sharing and for the warnings!!
Pam Greer says
You'll have to let me know if you try them!