Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Biscotti! Why didn't I think of biscotti?!

Brian is a big lover of the beautiful bread rolls that are piled up in his office every morning. He's making a big effort to go paleo with me, but the temptation to eat these soft french rolls is huge. My thought was to make something easy, portable and a bit decadent that he could take with him and eat instead.

Plus, I just made a batch of hazelnut milk and had the nut meal left over which I made into hazelnut flour.

My only problem was that I couldn't find a paleo recipe for biscotti specifically using hazelnut flour. I had to get creative. After scouring through quite a few recipes using almond flour, pistachios, coconut flour, etc. I figured I had a good idea of what I needed.

Here's what I did:

• 1 c. hazelnut flour
• 1/3 c. coco powder
• 1 tbs manioc flour*
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 organic free range egg
• 1/3 c. raw honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 c chopped (soaked and dried) hazelnuts**

Preheat your oven to 350f (or 177c).

Put all your dry ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until they're well combined. My home-made hazelnut flour was still a little bit clumpy and this also helped to make it more fine. When your ingredients are mixed well, put it all into a medium sized mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, combine your wet ingredients and mix well.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and smoosh it all together until it's good and sticky. Add your chopped nuts and moosh some more.

Now you'll have a nice sticky mess. Grease your baking sheet with coconut oil or butter, and grease your hands as well. This stuff is sticky! Scoop it all out of the bowl and form it into a log.

I know, I know

Yes, it will look like a giant turd. I laughed out loud at this point. Feel free to do the same, food can be hilarious, right? Or maybe I'm just a twelve year old boy, ha.

Now flatten that log into a rectangle about 3/4" thick.

More mooshing

Bake for 17 minutes, then remove it from the oven to cool.

Once it's mostly cool, cut the still-soft dough into biscotti sized pieces and lay them on their sides back on your cookie sheet.

Bake for 18 more minutes at 300f (or 150c).

Let cool completely. They should be nice and crispy once they're done. If they last longer than five minutes, store them in an airtight container. I have no idea how long they'll keep, and at the rate Brian is eating them I may never find out.

I'd say they're a big success! And I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow.

*You could substitute 1 tbs tapioca starch, or arrowroot powder
**I put the nuts in a plastic bag and crushed them with a garlic press, which is the heaviest thing I have in my kitchen. Note to self: buy a meat tenderizing hammer or something.

Let me know if you try making these, and how they come out!