beth's banana bread biscotti

i am quickly becoming a biscotti junkie. biscotti are so simple to make, versatile, low fat and just dang tasty. i had two spotty bananas that i hated to throw out, so rather than make boring banana bread, i made banana bread biscotti. oh my gosh they are good, a real keeper. i found a recipe on cooking light, this one here and adapted it to my liking using walnuts and rum. the cookies were crunchy with a chewy texture full of banana flavor. yummy. the biscotti were even better with a hot cup of coffee. i am posting my recipe adaptation below. enjoy.

beth's banana bread biscotti

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 1.5 banana)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp rum or rum extract
  
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, dry toasted in a saute pan
  

preheat oven to 350°.

combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. combine banana, oil, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl; stir in flour mixture and walnuts (dough will be sticky).

turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead it till it comes together, flouring your hands often. place dough onto a silpat or parchment cookie sheet. shape dough into one long about 10 inchs with floured hands. flatten out with hands till about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. shape your log nicely, it won't spread. i try to have straight sides and rounded edges to get the traditional biscotti look.

bake at 350° for 23 minutes. remove rolls from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes. cut each roll into about 12 (1/2-inch) slices. place slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. reduce oven temperature to 250°; bake 15 minutes. turn cookies over; bake an additional 15 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks. if your cookies brown too quickly, just cover with some foil. store in an airtight container or your belly.

p.s. i think next time i will up the rum some, the banana overpowered it a little.