Low-Carb Biscotti

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/cookies/r/low-carb-biscotti.htm
Ever want something sweet, yet sugar-free, to dunk in your coffee or tea? These low-carb biscotti might fill the bill! I have two variations here: basic almond biscotti, and chocolate chip biscotti. Although you can use any sugar-free chocolate, I've usedChocoPerfection Bars, which are sweetened witherythritol instead of the more commonly-used (and problematic) maltitol. The almond extract has a distinct almond flavor; for the chocolate chip biscotti consider reversing the amounts of the vanilla and almond extracts if that would be more to your taste.

Another variation is to substitute a quarter cup of unsweetened dried blueberries for the chocolate, which adds about half a gram of carb per cookie.

Yield: 36 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter at room temperature
• 3 cups almond meal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sugar substitute equal to one cup sugar. Note: zero-carb liquid is preferred -- I used 24 drops of a concentrated form of sucralose (see note)
• For chocolate chip biscotti: 2 ChocoPerfection Bars, or 100 grams of other sugar-free chocolate, chocolate chips, etc.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover a 10" X 15" baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, and lightly grease with butter or oil.

1. Mix butter, almond meal, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Beat until fully combined -- it should glom together.

2. Add wet ingredients: eggs, extracts, and sugar substitute. Beat until well-combined. The batter will be fairly stiff. (Note: I developed this recipe using the concentrated liquid sucralose. I'm guessing almost any sugar substitute would work. If you are using a powdered type, add it with the almond meal at the beginning, and be sure to add the carbs to the total.).

3. Let batter sit for 5 minutes or so; the almond meal will absorb some of the remaining liquid. It should form a soft, but workable dough.

Chocolate Chip Variation: If you're making the chocolate chip type, it's a good time to chop the chocolate (if not already in chip form). Either use a sharp knife or a food processor. If using a food processor, pulse carefully -- if you're too aggressive, much of the chocolate will end up pulverized, and won't have the same effect..

4. Turn the dough onto the baking sheet and form it into a rectangle about 1/2" - 3/4" high, 5 inches wide, and 14 inches long..

5. Bake until very lightly browned on top -- about 22-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven down to 325. Let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes, then cut into slices about 3/4 inch wide. Lay the slices on their sides, and return to the oven for about 15 minutes, until the sides are lightly browned.

You can leave the biscotti long -- in this case the recipe would make 18 of them, 2 servings each. I cut them in half, and then each one is a serving.

Cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Nutritional Information for Plain Biscotti: Each of 36 servings has 1 gram effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber (2 grams total carbohydrate), 2 grams protein, and 73 calories.

Nutritional Information for Chocolate Chip Biscotti: Each of 36 servings has 1 gram effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber (3 grams total carbohydrate), 2 grams protein, and 84 calories.

FRUGAL TIP: 

• Join a freezer club. Get together with like-minded people to exchange meals for your freezers. It’s cheaper to prepare a lot of one meal and split it up, than to prepare a bunch of different meals.