Easy Luxury Gift- Biscotti!

First Biscotti ever
Originally uploaded by Riotflower

I wanted to bring something tasty to a party this weekend and skipped over my usual cookies because I didn’t want to have to purchase any new ingredients. If easy baking is the goal, I usually make some chocolate chip cookies, but here, that involves buying and chopping chocolate bars. I’ve been trying to cut back even more recently on purchases, especially in my creations. My partner and I have decided to not only make each others presents (as we usually do), but to make sure the main components (we’re allowed to re-stock on thread) are already in our home. I/We have plenty of yarn, fabric, etc, to make gifts!

I searched online for easy-yet-yummy cookie ideas with the ingredients I already had. I saw that many people have been surprised with how easy biscotti is, so I gave it a try! I did have to buy eggs, but we would’ve bought more to eat soon anyway.

I made my first batch on Saturday using this recipe. I altered the flavours a bit and also added mixed dried fruits. After making them, I realised there weren’t enough so I fed a few to friends to see if they thought it was worth making more. They did.

The best advice I can give about making biscotti is to let the logs cool completely before slicing, rather than the 15 minutes recommended by the recipe.

Since I was bringing them to a Christmas party, I wanted them to look nice and yet also be easily served if the host decided to share. I didn’t have any sturdy cardboard boxes to cover with paper, or brown paper to tie it up with string, so I went for this arrangement. I know it’s not the most environmentally friendly to wrap things in plastic and I usually try to avoid that, but I already had the plastic on-hand. I cut two circles from my cereal box, covered them with wrapping paper and stuck the cookies on-top. I have to think of a similarly aesthetic wrapping for the next time I make them.

They went over very well! At the beginning of the party, I stood talking to several colleagues. One picked up the biscotti and sniffed, tasted, etc, analysing the contents. She said “cinnamon”…I said “yeah”..she said “raisins”…I said “mixed fruits including currants”…She said “amaretto”, I said “almond extract”. We didn’t realise until much later that she thought they were store-bought and thought I was analysing them too. I knowing she bakes, thought she was figuring out the recipe I used!

The friend who had tried them on Saturday told me the following story at the end of the party. She was nibbling on them, talking to someone else from our department. She said ‘Riotflower made these’. The other interlocutor said that they looked too uniform. The friend responded that I had made them, and the other woman said “but they’re in plastic!”…the friend continued by saying “She’s crafty”…Apparently, she didn’t believe in the end that I had made them!

If she would’ve looked closely, she would have seen that the wrapping paper was silver and white snowy trees and the ribbon, being green, red and blue, didn’t match. Surely, that’s a sure sign it wasn’t purchased in a store?

: * ) All in all, I’m pleased they went down so well and I felt that I was bringing a party gift in a way that I wouldn’t have bringing one type of cookie. I think I’ll add this to my party repertoire!