This is an old recipe for Banana Bread Biscotti. I've used it over the years to get rid of over-ripe bananas.
This recipe is adapted from One Smart Cookie, a book I use when I'm looking to cut the fat in cookies. For me, that is not often, since I'd rather eat a half a rich cookie than a whole low fat cookie, but I do have to admit that a lot of the recipes in the book are almost as good as full fat.
Banana Flour
Bananas have a lot of water, so you can't use too much banana or the biscotti will not dry out. For more banana flavor, you can add ground banana chips. One of these days I'm going to try making a gluten-free version with banana flour, though I've read that banana flour doesn't taste much like bananas. One thing I do not recommend is banana extract. It is good in some things, but it tastes more like banana flavored Laffy Taffy and not like true banana bread.
Recipe
Banana Bread Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup mashed banana 1 banana
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup chopped toasted pecans (or walnuts)
- ¼-1/3 cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine banana, oil, egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add the flour mixture, toasted pecans and optional chocolate chips 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 each half into an 8 inch log. Place the logs about 4 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment or Release foil. Press the logs into two rectangles about 3 inches across.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until firm and cracked on top. Transfer the logs to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees F.
- Place logs on a cutting board, trim the ends and using a sharp, serrated knife, cut each diagonally into ½ to ¾ inch thick slices. Place biscotti cut side down on the cookie sheet. Return them to the 275 degree oven and cook for 20 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 20 minutes . Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Makes 2 dozen
Anna says
Kim, you're my kind of language arts teacher! Thanks for the electric knife tip.
Kim says
Here's a great tip for for cutting your biscotti - use an electric knife with the bread knife attachment. It makes the whole process so much faster, with less chance of crumbling the biscotti!
As a Language Arts teacher, I make 4 or 5 batches of cake mix biscotti every year for our class Poetry Cafe. Think preteens drinking decaf coffee or hot chocolate and eating biscotti while reciting the poetry they've written for their classmates and family members - a highlight of the year.
I love this recipe idea because of its healthy ingredients. I'll have to make it soon using some whole wheat flour for added health benefits!
Anna says
I haven't made this one in a long time, but it sounds like you know where things went wrong. I wonder if there are any other good banana biscotti recipes out there?
Cyndi says
Thanks, Anna. I don't think it was the recipe that caused the problem. You know how it is: some recipes should be vigorously whipped to incorporate air, others should be handled gently to keep them tender. Next time, I will be gentle with this one!
Anna says
Sorry you had a bad batch, Cyndi.
Cyndi says
These aren't foolproof -- I've never made biscotti before and my results turned out hard as rocks and about as easy to chew.
Suspect I overmixed them as I added the flour. Just wanted to warn people to use a light touch when blending the ingredients. The taste was good enough I'll attempt it again.
Ling Cullen says
I just experimented in making these to feed my Biscotti addiction. Boy are they tasty. Mine got Almonds and a dose of dark chocolate chunks and they beat the heck out of the starbucks biscotti I was eating before. Thanks for the recipe!
Anonymous says
These were DELICIOUS! I added a 1/4 Almond Extract and a pinch of cinnamon to the recipe. It had a nice, nutty banana flavor. YUM!
sarah says
I tried this recipe last night and it turned out AMAZING! It is now one of my favourite cookie recipes of all time. Thank you so much!
megan says
love the monkey!
Anna says
I knew the lyrics up to "really neat" but didn't remember the rest. Gigi, I am impressed.
Val, good luck with Bake-Off! You have plenty of time to practice.
Writebrain, it sounds like you have a bunch of brown bananas already.
valchemist says
I love the picture, too. now, I didn't think I had heard of monchichi, but after reading those lyrics, I think I know the exact tune. it is kind of coming back to me. I didn't own one, though.
speaking of the bake-off, I am back in bake-off mode finally. I think I will give it a shot afterall. 🙂
Gigi says
Monchichi Monchichi
oh so soft and cuddly.
Put his thumb in his mouth,
he's really neat.
Fun to wiggle his little feet.
Yum yum yum yum yum yum
Happy happy Monchichi!
Thanks for nothin', pal...
Writebrain says
Oh, this one is going to be tried at my house! Soon!
Anna says
Santa brought us the monkey at Christmas. Fuzz opened it, played with it for 2 minutes, then abandoned it. For some reason, I kept it in the kitchen. If you mess with it, it makes monkey sounds. A few weeks ago, a camera crew was here filming some promotional footage for next year's Bake-Off. One of the guys played with the monkey and it wouldn't shut up. It kept going off and making monkey sounds while I was trying to talk, so we just shoved it somewhere.
A few days later, Todd pulled the monkey out from wherever it got shoved and said it reminded him of that old toy "Monchichi". He must not have paid much attention to Monchichi, because this monkey doesn't look a bit like Monchichi. At any rate, he got Monchichi jingle stuck in my head. If you don't know the jingle, consider yourself lucky.
Thank goodness the monkey has finally come in handy.
Gigi says
Cutest. Picture. Ever.
carole says
Love the chimp, too.
Claire says
1. Love banana bread.
2. Love biscotti.
3. I must try this soon! Thanks for sharing the recipe...what a great idea.