FLORENTiNES

This recipe is based on Ottolenghi's florentine recipe. It is incredibly easy and goes perfecly with chocolate mousse or any ice cream or sorbet. It's perfect if you don't have the time to make a complicated dessert but still want to bake something. You can prepare them a few days in advance and store them in a airtight container. Plus, it's very light, the orange zest gives a great flavor and you can even try to convince yourself it's pretty healthy!

iNGREDiENTS:

• 2 egg whites
• 100 gr icing sugar
• 250 gr flaked almonds
• grated zest of 1 orange

RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven at 150°C (300°F).
• Stir all your ingredients in a bowl: egg whites + icing sugar + almonds + zest.
• Dip you hand in a bowl of water and pick up portions of the mix to make little mounds on a pre-oil parchment paper. Be sure to spaced them apart (like for cookies).
• Dip a fork in water and flatten each biscuit very thinly. Make them as thin as possible without creating too many gaps. (about 8cm in diameter)
• Bake for 12 minutes or until the biscuit are golden brown.
• Allow to cool and remove biscuits gently with a palette knife. 
• ET VOiLA !

CANTUCCi - BiSCOTTi

iNGREDiENTS:
-makes 40 biscuits-

• 450 gr flour
• 350 gr sugar (organic cane sugar)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs + 3 yolks (keep the remaining whites to brush over the doughs later on) 
• 50 gr of butter
• zest of one small orange
• 250 gr hole raw almonds
• a pinch of salt

RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven at 180°C (350°F)
• In a bowl, stir together : sugar + melted butter + eggs + orange zest + salt.
• Add flour and baking powder and stir again.
• Add almonds.
• Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 30cm long - 6cm wide long. Transfer both logs to a prepared baking sheet, spacing them apart.
• Brush each dough log with the remaining egg whites on top and on the sides.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Once baked, leave to cool for about 20 minutes and lower your oven at 100°C (200°F)
• Transfer the dough logs to a work surface and cut logs on small slices using a serrated knife.
• Arrange slices, cut side down, on the same baking sheet and bake 10 minutes on each side.
• ET VOiLÀ !

You can keep them for at least one week in a airtight container at room temperature.

GRANOLA

This recipe is based on Gwyneth Paltrow's Granola recipe. I arranged it according to my taste. I love Gwyneth's cookbook. She likes to focus on healthy yet delicious recipes. I find it totally in consistency with this blog.

iNGREDiENTS:

• 150 gr oats (not instant and not steel-cut)
• 70 gr raw, whole almonds
• 4 Tabespoons pumpkin seeds
• 4 Tabespoons sunflower seeds
• a pinch of cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 100ml of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (any vegetable oil is fine)
• 60 gr of cranberries (you can use any dry fruit that you like: raisins, apricot, figues)

RECiPE:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Roughly cut the almonds (do not skip this step or your almonds won't be as caramelized)
• In a bowl stir together all the ingredients except for the cranberries: oats + pumpkin and sunflower seeds + chopped almonds + cinnamon + salt +  oil + maple syrup + agave nectar.
• Spread the granola out on parchment paper.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Once baked, let it cool for a while and then add the cranberries.
• ET VOiLA !

The Granola will keep well for 2-3 months in an airtight container.