If you asked me what is your favorite nut I would say hands down a freshly roasted and skinned hazelnut ! However, they are a bit time consuming to do. So what is nice is that Trader Joes sells roasted and skinned hazelnuts. In a pinch they work really well.
This recipe is from Juliene Jones of Vergennes Laundry up in Vermont. I used mission figs in the recipe. I find they are softer then the Calimyrna figs. They are also easier to find in the market. This recipe has a lot of butter in it and is richer then a normal Biscotti recipe. In addition, because of the high nut content I would freeze some for later use.
2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped toasted and skinned hazelnuts
14 ounces of mission figs chopped into small cubes
1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup of sugar
3 1/2 cups of AP Flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth. Add your eggs in and mix until well incorporated. Now add your flour and baking powder. Then mix in your nuts and figs. Divide dough into two. On a piece of parchment shape two logs that are two inches thick. Bake each log in a 325 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool and slice into one inch slices. Bake the slices for 18 minutes more. They will be a lovely light brown!
What is kind of interesting is the Celts thought that hazelnuts would concentrated wisdom and poetic inspiration. There is an ancient tale that nine hazel trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping nuts into the water to be eaten by some salmon (a fish revered by Druids).
When they ate the hazelnuts they absorbed the wisdom.The number of bright spots on the salmon were said to indicate how many nuts they had eaten. I may know how many pounds I have gained by how many of these really good cookies I have eaten.
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