Banana and Nut Biscotti

Overripe bananas?  Step away from the banana bread recipe! You can do better than that!

I found myself with 4 soft bananas this weekend - my intention was to eat them for breakfast with the yogurt I normally have when I get into work but after feeling too full after the yogurt all 4 bananas that I bought last weekend were sitting uneaten on the counter begging to be made into something delicious before they passed the point of banana no return.  My first thought was banana bread but that's the easy way out and that's just not a challenge!  I had a wander through Google, searched across Foodgawker and finally something popped up.  Biscotti.

I've always imagined biscotti to be some sort of epic baking adventure but how wrong was I?!  It's so, so easy, takes barely any time to prepare and the results are not only delicious but will impress all of your friends!  Who doesn't want nutty, banana-y, crispy treats with their tea or coffee?!

Preheat oven to 185C (fan oven).

Mash the banana then mix in the oil and egg until well combined.

Add all of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl then add the wet ingredients.  Mix until smooth.

This is a really, really stick dough so rather than the other recipes I've seen that need kneading on a floured surface just put the dough on a greaseproof paper and foil lined baking tray so it's sort of a log shape.

Bake for between 22-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Reduce your oven to 175C (again, this is the fan oven temperature).

Cool the "loaf" for about 15 minutes on a wire rack and then slice - I like my biscotti to be quite thick (good for dunking!) so the slices were about an inch wide.





Bake the biscotti slices for 10 minutes on one side, flip them over then bake again for another 7 minutes (keep an eye on them - you want the middle to be a bit soft and the edges to be hard).

Cool the slices on a wire rack, brew a coffee, sit back and dunk!