Gluten free orange, almond & cacao nibs biscotti

I am having a moment with almonds in all their forms, if it has almonds in it, name it, I love it (just check out how loads of my recipes contain almond mylk). I am also a big fan of almond flour, not only for its taste, but also the texture it adds to my bakes.

And cacao nibs, how I adore you too. On their own, cacao nibs can taste very bitter but mixed with a fruit (such as the orange in this recipe) the chocolate flavour comes through and the bitterness is completely gone.

Ingredients

• 175g almond flour
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of Himalayan Salt
• 50-60ml maple syrup or coconut sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons orange zest (grate the orange zest before squeezing the orange)
• 3 tablespoons orange juice
• 50g organic almonds, chopped
• 25g cocoa nibs

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and line your baking sheet with baking parchment
2. Put the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a food processor and mix until well blended. Add the remaining ingredients (minus the almonds and cacao nibs) and blitz until the dough forms a ball
3. Scoop to dough in a large bowl and add the almonds and cacao nibs and mix them in with a spatula or your hands
4. Roll the dough into a 25cm x 5cm "log" and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the outside is firm to the touch. Let it cool for 1-2 hours
5. Once cooled, cut the log on the diagonal with a knife (1.5 - 2cm) and spread the slices very carefully on their side on the same baking sheet used before and cook them for another 15-20 minutes, gas mark 1. After 20 minutes, you can turn off the oven and let them rest there until you can't wait no more and need one.

PPsssssttttt - Just a note, they taste better cool, the following day.