Cornmeal-Rosemary-Nut Biscotti

Doesn't it look like bread? Apparently biscotti was invented as a way of preserving bread longer, by cooking it twice.

The slices kept breaking, so we had to somehow piece them together, and later flip them all over... I may have stolen some roasted almonds and crunchy crumbs along the way...

This is a super old biscuit tin, and it's wonderfully photogenic ;)

I am obsessed with cappuccino foam <3

I am in the middle of one incredibly long summer, in which I planned to do and learn and see and accomplish and try a bajillion new and cool and interesting things. But after the whirlwind of the IB and all the supposed productivity, I have done next to none of it. 
Yes, I feel guilty. But I have to remind myself that it's okay. So much of our lives go in trying to be as productive as possible: trying to get to as many meetings, reply to as many emails, run as many errands, get the next best grade or the next best promotion. 
The IB may be over, but university is just starting, and I'll have no shortage of teary nights, crying about how I didn't complete everything on my impossible to-do list. 
Far too many people look back one day and wish they had slowed down for just a bit, and so I'm reassuring myself with the knowledge that this summer I'm doing exactly that. 
And in the midst of it all, I actually am trying new things... and making biscotti is one of them :) 

My mum and I had been intrigued by the idea for a while, and this recipe seemed to be rather unique. Our biscotti (literally meaning 'twice-baked') turned out a bit crumbly due to the cornmeal and the nuts. But I honestly wasn't complaining, because that meant more warm, nutty, crunchy crumbs for us to nibble on while we worked... 'That's just the way the cookie crumbles.' ;) (Cheesy, I know, but I just had to.)
Despite our problems with the texture and cutting the slices, they had a beautiful colour and flavour, and the smell of roasted almonds, orange zest and rosemary wafting through the kitchen was heavenly. 
They tasted (and looked) beautiful next to a hot cup of my dad's homemade cappuccino on a lazy, rainy Sunday morning. We read, talked, listened to the rain, and ended up spontaneously driving all the way to Bandra to try out a pizzeria. 
It was a simultaneously a 'do-nothing' and a 'try-something-new' day. 
That sounds like a pretty good summer to me.  

Cornmeal-Nut Biscotti
From Lottie and Doof

Note: Of course, you can always count on Tim from Lottie and Doof to put up the most interesting recipes, and this one was definitely lovely. It's not as buttery, sweet or hard as some biscotti (we ended up having a lot of biscotti a couple of weeks later in Italy, but more on that in another post ;) ), so try this if you want something a tad unconventional. We did find, however, that it just crumbled too much when we tried slicing it after the first round of baking. Maybe taking it out earlier would have helped – if you try it, experiment with your baking time and let me know how it goes :) 
Also, we didn't have hazelnuts or anise seeds, so we omitted them. 

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds 
• 2 large eggs
• Egg wash made with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven until they are lightly golden, 8-10 minutes. Let cool, keep oven on.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and add orange zest and rosemary. Allow to cool.

In the bowl of mixer, mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and anise seeds. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the cooled butter mixture and mix to combine. Stir in the nuts. Let rest for a few minutes.

Form the dough into a log 2-inches wide and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the log with egg wash and bake until it is a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let it cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.
Using a serrated knife, slice the log on the diagonal into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange the biscotti on two parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until crisp, about 1 hour.