Fairy Tale Biscotti
6 Tbsp unsalted,
room temperature butter
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp honey
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. grated
lemon rind
2 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking
powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup finely
chopped nuts or dried fruit, or a fruit/nut mixture
Notes:
You can use salted butter instead of unsalted, but
this makes the recipe’s saltiness hard to control. If you do use salted butter,
you may wish to reduce the amount of additional salt slightly.
As the nut/fruit additive, I like to use either
almonds, macadamia nuts, or dried cranberries. Chop the nuts very fine; it
helps with the final cookie.
Preheat oven to
350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In large bowl,
beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.
Beat in eggs,
honey, vanilla and lemon rind.
Add flour, baking
powder and salt (best sifted together first). Blend to combine and stir in
nuts/fruit. Halve dough, and with
slightly oiled hands, roll halves into two logs, roughly 2 inches by 12 inches.
Place logs on baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven
and place on rack to cool. When cool,
transfer to a cutting board and slice, at a 45 degree angle with a serrated
knife, into ¾ inch segments. Use firm strokes to reduce crumbling. Put cookie
slices back in oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, turning once. Cool and store
in an airtight container.
Fairy Tale
Fusion - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With
Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
Have
you ever wondered about what happened to all of our nursery rhyme
characters? All of the stories ended
with "They lived happily ever after" but is that true. Well, according to A. F. Stewart and the story
land reporters, along with the story land police, that wasn't really the case.
Do
you remember Alice who went to Wonderland?
Well, there was a grand wedding of the Mad Hatter and Alice last
Sunday. It was a stunning affair,
utilizing a red and white wedding theme with a playing card motif. The bride looked dazzling in a crystal
encrusted white dress with cap sleeves, offset with a red embroidered
sash. Bridesmaids included the bride's
sister, the Duchess, and the Cheshire Cat.
The best man was the White Rabbit.
Have
you ever wondered what ever happened to The Three Little Pigs? Well, according to reporters Spider Bramble
and Aurora Gossamer with the Fairyland news, there appears to be a manhunt for
the First Little Pig, in connection with a tragic domestic incident that left
the other two Pig brothers butchered. A
late night dispute, over what seemed to have been long simmering family
grievances, went terribly wrong, resulting in the stabbing death of two of the
brother Pig.
And
what ever happened to the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe? She went missing fourteen days ago, after
apparently suffering a nervous breakdown.
This is the latest in a string of mishaps, including her arrest on drug
charges and the removal of her children into foster care by Child
Services. The Fairyland Police tracked
her down and evidently found her trying to make a size 12 Oxford loafer her new
home. She is now undergoing psychiatric
observation and rehab.
To
my surprise, and I'm sure yours too, there apparently wasn't a Happily Ever
After for these beloved childhood characters.
Fairy Tale Fusion will take you back in memories as you find out what
really happened to Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Tom Piper, Sleeping Beauty and even Beauty and the Beast.
I've
read other books written by A. F. Stewart and enjoyed them and this book was
just as enjoyable. Her version of these bedtime
stories are not exactly great for children but they sure did give me a chuckle
and I think it will you too.