Spelt, Almond & Pistachio Cantucci

Here's a recipe I've been meaning to post for awhile... it's a bit of a favourite around here!  These are great dunked in a hot cuppa, are perfect for picnics (because they are kind of hard and don't crumble like a lot of biscuits do) and are not overly sweet - I find a lot of cookie recipes way too sweet for my taste.  I adapted these from a recipe in the Thermomix cookbook "My Way of Cooking," - I reduced the sugar drastically and used Rapadura and stevia instead, substituted spelt flour for the wheat flour (adding more, as spelt needs less liquid than wheat), and added pistachios because I love them!  If you want an aniseed flavour (also in the original recipe), you can grind up a star anise with the Rapadura at the start... I usually just use almond essence because I like the almond flavour.  Another idea would be to grind up a vanilla bean with the Rapadura and star anise - I think I'll try that next time! For a gluten free version, see the variation at the end.

It's a very easy recipe, but you need to work fast, as the dough gets really sticky the longer you take... so have your ingredients ready to go and keep the blades moving as much as possible so the dough doesn't 'gum up the works'.  If it does slow the blades down, just add an extra handful of flour and use your spatula to pull the dough off the blades, then spin them with the interval speed.  That should get it going again. 

Enjoy! :)

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2.  Grind in dry Thermomix bowl on speed 9 for 30 seconds:

- 150g Rapadura

  (If adding a star anise and/or vanilla bean, you'll need to grind for about 1 minute)

3.  Add to bowl and mix on speed 5 for 40 - 60 seconds, until combined:

- 400g spelt flour

  (you can use part wholemeal, but it does get a bit crumbly)

- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp stevia powder

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 2 eggs

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tsp almond essence (or vanilla extract)

4.  Quickly add nuts and mix on interval speed for 30 seconds to a minute, until dough is well mixed and nuts are roughly chopped.  If the dough gets too sticky, add another handful of flour to get it moving.
- 120g raw almonds (skin on)
- 80g raw unsalted pistachios

A very sticky dough!

5.  Place dough onto a lightly floured silicon mat and quickly shape into a couple of 3 cm thick logs.  Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, making sure there's some space between them.  Cook in preheated oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

6.  As soon as they're cooked, remove from oven and slice into diagonal slices - this must be done while they are hot and soft, or they'll crumble! Leave them to cool completely, then store in glass jars.  They also freeze well.

Gluten Free Variation:  You can use this gluten free baking mix instead of the spelt flour, although you may need to adjust the amounts a little if the dough is too sticky.

Hazelnut Version: You can use 100g almonds and 100g hazelnuts too, for a change. :)