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Carmella’s Apricot Biscotti – Forget What You Know About Wheat(c)
Carmella’s Apricot Biscotti have tantalizing flavor. Citrus and apricot complement one another on the palate with the orange zest of the icing balancing the apricot in the cookie. One of my mom’s best friends of long ago used to make these for me when I would visit. Of course her recipe calls for wheat flour and I have chosen to transform this recipe to its delicious gluten free counterpart; returning to a moment in time and honoring Carmella. I call for brown rice and white rice flour, this is only to increase nutrition, white rice flour can be used alone. Carmella would use fresh apricots when in season and jarred when not. I have used unsweetened Apricot Preserves in this recipe. If you are fortunate enough to access fresh apricots, combine one cup of apricots in one cup of boiling water, and cook long enough for the flesh to completely break down. When first made, these cookies can be quite moist, if you prefer a dryer, heartier Italian type biscotti, leave them out for at least 24 hours (loosely covered with wax paper). Be sure to ice them when they have completely cooled.
Yields approximately 3 ½ dozen cookies
Cookie Ingredients:
½ cup unsweetened Apricot Preserves
½ cup Sugar
½ cup (one stick) Butter, room temperature
1 Egg
1 cup + 1 tablespoon Sour Cream
1/3 cup Brown Rice Flour
2/3 cup White Rice Flour
2/3 cup Potato Starch
1/3 cup Sorghum Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Guar Gum
½ teaspoon Salt
Icing Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups GF Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Orange Zest
6 tablespoons Milk
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the Brown Rice Flour, White Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sorghum, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum and salt in a small bowl and vigorously whisk until well combined. Place aside.
Cream together the sugar and butter. Scrape down the inside of the bowl and mix in the egg, followed by the preserves. Scrape down the inside again and add the sour cream. The mixture should be light and fluffy. Mix in the flour in three additions, be sure to combine the ingredients fully and scrape down the bowl between additions.
Drop & swirl tablespoon sized dollops on an ungreased cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 12 minutes and, once out of the oven, leave on the cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to cooling racks.
Make the icing: I recommend making half batches of the icing to eliminate excessive crumbs in the icing and for manageable fluidity. Zest and finely chop the zest of half of an orange, set aside. Use a small well rounded bowl. Whisk together 1 1/3 cups of the powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of the zest. Gently add up to 3 tablespoons of the milk. Whisk until completely combined and drippy with resistance on the whisk.
Before icing the cookies, use the top of your finger in the center of the cookie and gently rub the bottom of the cookie along the cooling rack, allowing the excess crumbs to fall. This reduces falling crumbs in the icing. Place wax paper under the racks. Hold the cookie top side down and gently dip and swirl in the icing. Place top side up on cooling rack and allow to completely dry (a few hours or overnight).
“Carmella’s Apricot Biscotti” by Liz Conforti, Forget What You Know About Wheat(c) 2015
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