After four months off, tomorrow I'm heading back to work...for one night. Being in the film business is so strange- crazy, 16 hour days filled with a madness, followed by long stretches of unemployment. When I'm on a show I barely have time to take a breath let alone do my laundry, and lately I've had so much time on my hands I spread my chores out through the week just so I'll have something on my to do list. What I really have been enjoying is the luxury of baking everyday and while I'm anxious to get back to work it makes me sad to think I'll have to give that up. When I finally do back to work full time, I hope to create a better balance between my work and home life so I thought use this one day job to create some bring bringing along these Banana Macadamia Biscotti. How can biscotti create balance? Well, while I'm standing on the set somewhere between Friday night and Saturday trying to stay awake, I will pair my (very) late night coffee with these biscotti, so my set self and my "self" self will be able to meet somewhere in the middle.How do you find your balance?
Banana Macadamia Biscotti
adapted from Cookie Madness
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup mashed banana (1 banana)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped, toasted macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine banana, oil, egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add the flour mixture, toasted macadamia nuts to the banana mixture and stir just until combined. If the mixture seems dry, use your hands to mix until the dough comes together.
Divide the mixture in half and shape into 8 inch logs. Place the logs about 4 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Use your hands or the back of a spoon to shape the logs into 2 rectangles about 3 inches across. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until firm and cracked on top.
Transfer the logs to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 275F. Place logs on a cutting board and slice diagonally into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay biscotti cut side down on the cookie sheet and return them to the oven for 15-20 minutes until they are crisp. Flip them over and cook for 15- 20 minutes on the opposite side. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
