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Almond Bread (Valentine's Day)


I got hold of this Almond Bread recipe from a very old edition of Australian Women's weekly.  After scrutinising the recipe and on googling for more information I realised that Almond Bread and Biscotti is one and the same cookie/biscuit.  The cookie is very crunchy and there's not a drop of oil.  It's not too sweet either as I've reduced the amount of sugar.

Updated on 26th April 2013.  Many thanks to an anonymous reader who highlighted the difference between Almond Bread and Biscotti.   They're not the same.  Almond Bread has almonds and egg whites while Biscotti calls for whole eggs.



After whisking the egg whites till stiff, add in the flour, mix well and add in the whole unblanched almonds.


Mixture before baking and after baking......... just light brown.



Sliced almond bread on a paper lined baking sheet before baking. 
Cooling baked almond bread on a wire rack.











Serve just one slice with after-dinner-coffee or as a delightfully crisp biscuit with ice cream.
Happy Valentine's Day!


Ingredients
  • 3 egg whites
  • 120 gm plain flour - sifted
  • 90 gm caster sugar
  • 120 gm unblanched whole almonds
Method
  1. Whisk egg whites till foamy on slow speed, add in sugar and whisk on higher speed till egg whites are stiff but not dry.  (To check whether the egg whites are done, remove and invert the whisk and if the peak of egg whites stand, then it's ready).
  2. Add in sifted flour, mix well, followed by the whole almonds.  The consistency should be soft and light.
  3. Pour mixture into a lightly greased dish, 15cm x 8cm.
  4. Bake  in a preheated oven @ 180 deg C for 30 mins till light brown.
  5. Let it cool in the dish completely.
  6. Remove from dish, wrap up in foil and put in the fridge for a day or two.  It can also be freezed if you wish to keep it longer.
  7. When needed, slice thinly, about 2mm thick with a serrated knife.
  8. Arrange slices onto paper lined baking sheet and bake @ 130 deg C for 45 mins. till crispy and crunchy.
  9. Store in air-tight cookie jar once completely cooled.



Other recipes on Biscotti :

1.  Pig Pig's corner   -  Nutty Slice Biscuits.
2.  Christine's Recipes  -  White chocolate macademia and lemon Biscotti.
3.  My Little Space  -  Rosy Fig and almond Biscotti.


Labels:

Comments

  1. j3ss kitch3nFebruary 11, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    very beautiful biscotti Cheah!! happy CNY! hope you enjoyed yourself thoroughly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Smoky Wok (formerly Tastes of Home)February 11, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    Love biscotti and yours look perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  3. penny aka jeroxieFebruary 11, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    Those are really good looking biscotti. And love the tin. so cute

    ReplyDelete
  4. ann lowFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    Cheah, I like this, no oil and no butter. I'm bookmarking this!!Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christine HoFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    Beautiful biscotti, very good for this Valentine's Day.
    They are a big hit in every party too!
    Thanks for the mention. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My Little SpaceFebruary 11, 2011 at 3:31 PM

    Cheah, thanks for the link. That's very sweet of you. Your biscotti looks amazing and beautifully sliced. So thin! MUst be very cripsy. Mind sending me some! :o) Thanks again for sharing. Hope you're enjoying your day.
    Cheers, Kristy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sokehah cheahFebruary 11, 2011 at 9:31 PM

    j3ss kitch3n
    Thanks, Jess! Happy CNY to you and your family too!

    Jen
    Thank you. I like it too, light and crispy.

    Penny
    Spring cleaning and stumbled on the tin, so thought it will be a good prop for pics!

    Anncoo
    You are most welcome to try making it, Ann!

    Christine
    You are most welcome! Yup, my CNY visitors love them!

    Kristy
    Ya, they're very crispy and crunchy, a hit with my visitors. I 'sawed' them, that's why they're so thin!

    ReplyDelete
  8. ICook4FunFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    Oh wow, Beautiful!! I like how you sliced it. Really thin. I can't seems to get it that thin. I bet it taste crispy.

    ReplyDelete
  9. pigpigscornerFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:12 PM

    Beautiful! They are so healthy and delicious. Thanks Cheah for the mention =)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sokehah cheahFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:13 PM

    ICook4Fun
    It's easy to slice with a serrated knife once it's taken out of the freezer. As it's thin, it's crispy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. JeannieFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:56 PM

    Looks delicious and crispy! First time seeing biscotti sliced this thin! Would love to try it! Thanks for sharing :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sokehah cheahFebruary 13, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    Jeannie
    You are most welcome! Using a serrated knife to slice them when it's just taken out from the freezer is easy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The SweetyliciousFebruary 13, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    it look so nice, crispy and yummy! (: (:

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sokehah cheahFebruary 14, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    The Sweetylicious
    Thanks for dropping by my blog... Yes they're crispy and crunchy and a hit amongst my recent CNY visitors.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The SweetyliciousFebruary 15, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    sorry, do you know how much the egg white weigh? coz i've got many egg whites leftover in the fridge. thank you! (:

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sokehah cheahFebruary 15, 2011 at 11:24 PM

    The Sweetylicious
    I didn't weigh the egg whites in the above recipe, but I know that 1 whole egg without shell is 50ml/50 gm. I googled and found out that yes, 1 egg without shell is 50gm, 1 egg white is 30 gm and 1 yolk is 18 gm. So I suppose that for the 3 egg whites it should be 90gm. Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The SweetyliciousFebruary 15, 2011 at 11:36 PM

    sorry to trouble you. thank you so much for your help! (: (:

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sokehah cheahFebruary 16, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    The Sweetylicious
    Not at all, you are more than welcome!

    ReplyDelete
  19. GeraldineAugust 27, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    Thanks for the recipe. I have tried the recipe but my biscotti turn out to be brown. How is it that you got such light colour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sokehah cheahSeptember 6, 2012 at 5:43 PM

      Maybe you baked them too long, temperature must be very low.

      Delete
  20. AnonymousNovember 30, 2012 at 10:41 AM

    Quick & easy recipe since I've mislaid mine. Thanks for the "freezing"tip. I've not done that before. Heather Yannacos

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2013 at 3:06 AM

    Just wanted to say thank you for this amazing recipe!!! I stumbled across your blog about 6 months ago and make the biscotti at least once every month. They are delicious and not too high in sugar. I also tried making them using 1/4 cup sifted cocoa in place of 1/4 cup flour. My husband can't stop eating them :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousApril 26, 2013 at 11:46 PM

    Hi, this is a great recipe but almond bread and biscotti are NOT The same thing. First of all just for clarity, biscotti just means biscuits or cookies in Italian and doesn't refer to one type. The biscotti english speaking people often refer to are actually cantucci. Almond bread and cantucci are both technically biscotti or cookies but they are not the same. Biscotti in the traditional sense in English have whole eggs and can have any nuts in them. Almonds, pistachios, glace' cherries etc. But almond bread only ever has egg whites and almonds....also even though biscotti are sliced thinly because they are quite dry and crisp and are "dunked" in coffee or tea...or even vin santo or vino cotto, almond bread is sliced really really thin because it is even harder.

    Having said all this. this is a great recipe and well worth the effort. they actually make small rectangle tins designed to cook these, whereas biscotti are hand shaped. Thank you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousAugust 22, 2014 at 9:35 PM

    my uncle just brought these for me from Australia (to Mauritius) . its very delicious. thank you for sharing the recipe.

    ReplyDelete

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