Lemon Pistachio Biscotti
Lemon and pistachio pair so beautifully together in this crisp and chewy biscotti. The sweet cookie texture and lemon drizzle over top compliment the soft lemon flavour and crunchy pistachio nuts.
To make Lemon Pistachio Biscotti, we used our sweet gluten free blend and added extra tapioca starch, just like in our espresso dark chocolate biscotti. Vegan baking sticks and organic cane sugar are the fat and sweetener, respectively. I am a huge fan of coconut sugar; however, this time I wanted my cookies to have a lighter colour. Coconut sugar turns everything a homogenous beige colour and while I associate white baking with overly processed ingredients, I really wanted to play up the lighter colours and fluffy texture of cane sugar.
We only had raw pistachios available, so I roasted them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes before I used them. Soaking them for a day or so and dehydrating them works better to get rid of the raw bitterness, in my opinion but I was short on time.
I wish I had the lemons of Sorrento, Italy to make this recipe. They have beautiful and sweet lemons in that area that produce such lovely foods and flavours. Alas, I do not but I did use the juice and rind of a fresh lemon for this recipe. It makes a big difference to use fresh, the flavour is far more subtle and less bitter.
To keep this vegan we replaced the egg with aquafaba, this is canned chickpea water. I also added xanthan gum as a binder. Biscotti is ruined if it is too runny, so I wanted to be certain it would hold together, therefore you will see the batter is stiffer than I usually make it.
To form the Lemon Pistachio Biscotti batter into logs, I used a technique that is particular to gluten free baking. When your batter is stiff and needs to be shaped, always use hands that are wet with water. With gluten baking you do this with flour, so this isn’t an intuitive idea. Spatulas will often be too sticky and using other tools won’t do the job as well. Grab a bowl of water, doesn’t matter what temperature and dip your hands in, then use your hands to make the shape you wish you dough to have. There is a photo to show what I am doing in the recipe. Works like a charm.
Lemon Pistachio Biscotti
Equipment
- cookie sheet
- mixer
- spatula
- bread knife
- parchment paper
- small whisk
- large bowl
- lemon zester or grater
- medium small bowl
Ingredients
Biscotti
- ½ cup vegan baking sticks, we used MELT
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup aquafaba, egg replacer
- ½ tsp psyllium husks, in aquafaba
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 ½ cups sweet gluten free flour blend, our recipe
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ½ tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 1 each lemon rind from juiced lemon
- 1 each juiced lemon, remove rind before juicing
Lemon drizzle
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
Prep
- preheat oven to 325 F convection or 350 F parchment line a cookie sheetmeasure out aquafaba and whisk in psyllium husks to allow to set upgrate or zest 1 lemon, then juice it
Make cookie dough
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour blend, tapioca starch, salt, xanthan gum and baking powder
- Whip vegan baking stick in a medium small bowlGradually add sugar and continue to whip until fluffy
- Add aquafaba/psyllium husk mix, vanilla, lemon rind and continue to keep fluffy and full of air
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to combine, add lemon juice and continue mixing.
- Stir in pistachios
- Divide batter into two portions
- Place portions on parchment lined cookie sheet
- With wet hands, form into 2 logs, about 4" wide at its narrowest and 6" wide at its widest.
Bake
- Bake in oven for 30 min, biscotti should bounce back when pushed to test doneness.allow to rest 15 minutes outside oven
Bake twice
- Slice biscotti along the bias to create long 1/2'' wide lengths, with a sharp bread knifePlace on same parchment lined cookie sheet on its side and back in oven for 10-15 minutes.Flip (carefully, they are hot) them to the other side and bake again for 10-15 minutes
Lemon drizzle
- Allow biscotti to cool completely.Make lemon drizzle, I made just enough to lightly cover all, you may want to double the recipe and have lots on yours....Drizzle over biscotti, allow to dry, sugar will harden and turn white when dry.
