Hazelnut biscotti with fennel seeds, orange zest and some bitter dark chocolate.
The flavours work together beautifully, and pair really nicely with Ruffino’s vin santo wine.
Is there anything more satisfying than dipping your biscotti into a glass of vin santo at the end of a meal?.
Hazelnut Biscotti
Jump to RecipeBiscotti basically means twice baked, so these delicious biscuits are baked first as one loaf and then sliced laid flat and baked again.
The are a notoriously hard biscuit so dipping them in the wine or coffee makes them so much more enjoyable.
I really love a crispy baked cookie so i have always loved biscotti.
Roasted hazelnuts give such a wonderful nutty flavour, that always pairs well with chocoalate.
I decided to add the hit of aniseed like flavour from the fennel seeds and the zesty sweet flavour of orange.
The are so many flavour variations you can do with biscotti.
Like using almonds, dried fruits or even adding some of the vin santo into the dough its self.
When i visited Ruffios relais back in july, one of my favourite memories was the big meal we cooked together and then enjoyed.
At the end of the meal, i thought it was not possible to eat one more bite, but then the biscotti arrived.
Of course i had to partake in this Italian tradition of dipping the biscotti in the wine.
I hadn’t tried Vin santo before, and i thought it was a perfect pairing with the sweet cookie.
Ruffino asked me to create a wine pairing, and originally i had thought to pair one of their chianti wines with a pasta dish.
However as soon as i tried the vin santo with the biscotti they served i knew i had to recreate that at home.
Their Chianti superiore I have previously used to create a delicious red wine pasta dough.
It can be served with a meaty ragu or butter sauce.
If you would like the recipe for that you can find it here.
Hazelnut biscotti with fennel seeds, chocolate and orange
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 150 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 25 grams ground roasted hazelnuts grind in a food processor or use ground almonds
- 60 grams whole roasted hazelnuts if too large slice in half
- 75 grams caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs, lightly beaten together (not large eggs – if you only have large eggs add more flour or use only one egg and 110 grams flour)
- zest from half a large orange
- 60 grams chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c. 350f
- Grind the fennel seeds with a pastel and mortar
- once ground add to a bowl with the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground hazelnuts a pinch of salt and mix
- add the orange zest, chocolate chunks and whole roasted hazelnuts and then mix in the beaten egg.
- use your hands to bring it into a soft dough, then on a floured surface shape into a long log and place on tray
- Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and turn the temperature down to 150c
- slice the log of dough at an angle using a sharp knife (i find a bread knife works well) and then place them flat on the baking tray and return to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden
- let cool and serve with vin santo or coffee
- They will keep in an air tight container for 3 weeks.
Ruffino wine pairings
Whilst at their relais just outside of Florence, i got to try many of their wines. The one’s i enjoyed the most are:
Their Modus super Tuscan.
It has Intense aromas of mature red and black fruits, like cherries, plums, and small blackberries with hints of spices, sweet tobacco, and refined balsamic notes.
It pairs wonderfully with meat dishes like ragu and aged cheeses like pecorino or parmesan.
We ate so much pecorino while we stayed at the estate, its so delicious.
Another favourite of mine are their prosecco DOC and sparkling Rosé.
The sparkling Rosé has notes of strawberry and slight hints of rose petals, it was really wonderful.
Both pair wonderfully with most meals but especially fish or chicken dishes.
they look soooo good paired with the wine!!
thank you x
At first, I was confused if the taste of hazelnut biscotti and orange fennel seed is appropriate to chocolate. But when I cook it, its awesome. I love it.
thank you im glad you liked it x
What is the quanity of baking powder as not specified in the ingredients list. Thanks
thank you so much for noticing Maureen i completely forgot to add that, i used 1 tea spoon, i made them again recently with almonds, chocolate and sour cherry x