I hate most chain emails, but I've always had a thing for those "You know you are from (insert location here)" lists that people send around. Those crack me up. Even if I am not from said location and don't always get the joke, I still manage to find them funny. Or at the very least intriguing, since it piques my interest to know why people from a certain place do or say such-and-such a thing. And when you actually are from said location, then they have a way of making you feel included. Because you do get the joke, and you love it that not everyone else will. The ones for Canada tend to go something like this: You know you are Canadian when...
You're not offended by the term "Homo Milk".
You know that Thrills are something to chew and "taste like soap."
You understand the sentence, "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my poutine."
You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
You can do all the hand actions to Sharon, Lois and Bram's "Skin-a-ma-rinky-dinky-doo".
I could go on and on with these things, I really could. Another one I saw said something about being able to eat more than one piece of maple candy without feeling nauseous. I don't know about other Canadians, but for me this is absolutely true. I have long had a passion for anything maple-flavoured. I could chug maple syrup out of the bottle, quite frankly. I refrain, but it's tempting. For years, I used to buy my mother a bottle of "maple butter", which is maple syrup that is further reduced and then creamed for a spreadable consistency, for her Christmas stocking. And every Christmas morning, that jar would be on the table for spreading onto our waffles or scones or whatever treat we were having. I know that on more than one occasion, I spooned it straight from the jar.
But maple syrup is sugar, plain and simple. And sugar and my body are not very good friends any more. What's a maple syrup loving Canadian diabetic to do? Thank goodness for extracts! Long before I had diabetes, I kept a bottle of maple extract in my baking cupboard, as it's incredibly useful for flavouring cookies and desserts. Maple syrup is expensive stuff and you don't always want to be loading it into your baked goods when you want a maple flavour. And for those of us who can no longer eat maple syrup with abandon, maple extract is a godsend. I can get all of the flavour I adore so much, and keep the carbs at a minimum. As one of my favourite combinations has always been maple walnut, it wasn't hard to make the leap to a maple walnut biscotti. There is something I've always loved about the slight bitterness of walnuts with the sweetness of maple together. For this recipe, I decided to amp up the walnut flavour with toasted walnut oil. It certainly doesn't hurt that it makes it that much more heart-healthy for you!
The Results: I hardly need to tell you that these are good. If you are a maple walnut lover, you already know that these are good! I had concerns early on that the consistency of the oil would effect the crispness of the biscotti. But it didn't do so at all. In fact, out of all the low carb, gluten free biscotti I've made thus far, these were the easiest to cut into slices and held together beautifully. And the flavour is perfect. They are great on their own, without the drizzled glaze, but let's face it, the drizzle makes them that much more tempting.
Maple Walnut Biscotti
Biscotti:
2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup granulated erythritol
1/4 cup Stevia in the Raw
OR additional erythritol
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup toasted walnut oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup walnut baking pieces, toasted
Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered erythritol
1 1/2 tbsp almond milk
1/2 tsp maple extract
Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, granulated erythritol, Stevia in the Raw and xanthan gum. In a medium bowl, stir together walnut oil, egg, and maple extract. Add walnut oil mixture to almond flour mixture and stir until dough comes together. Stir in walnut baking pieces.
Turn dough out onto baking sheet and form into low, flat log, 10 x 4 inches. Bake 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250F.
With a sharp knife, gently cut into 15 even slices. Place slices back onto baking sheet cut-side down and bake for 15 minutes, then flip each slice and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Turn off oven and let sit inside until cool.
For the glaze, whisk together the powdered erythritol with the almond milk and maple extract. Drizzle over cooled biscotti and let set 30 minutes.
Serves 15. Each biscotti has a total of 5g of carbs and 2g of fiber.
