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Our friend, who is an amazing cook, made these beautiful cranberry orange biscotti for our coffee group yesterday.
They are delicious. But even better, they are absolutely gluten free and vegan. There is no added fat in the recipe, beyond what occurs naturally in the nuts.
Even though I’m the sort of cook who keeps a bag of Vital Wheat Gluten in the fridge at all times, more and more of my friends and extended family maintain gluten-free diets.
It is always a challenge to stick to a restrictive diet, although recovering one’s health and well-being serves as a powerful motivator!
And it is especially challenging at the holidays. So many of our warm memories and good times with loved ones involve our favorite seasonal foods. It is hard to enjoy family gatherings when our favorite foods are on the table, and we can’t enjoy them.
It was tough for me when I shifted to a fully vegetarian diet in the 80’s. I suddenly felt very out of place at social events from cook-outs to cocktail parties. Hostesses were nervous in inviting me to dinner. Some still are, although there are far more of us vegetarians and vegans these days. There are many more options everywhere you go to eat well and avoid meat.
It is a much tougher thing for those who require a gluten-free diet. Traditional family holiday meals are full of gluten, from appetizers to desserts. Gluten is a protein found in all wheat products. Anything which contains flour, or even comes into contact with wheat, becomes “contaminated” with gluten. That covers an awful lot of the holiday table, doesn’t it?
That is why I was so excited to enjoy these wonderful biscotti yesterday. They are everything I love in biscotti: crunchy, delicious, and totally satisfying. They hold up when dunked in a cup of coffee, and then melt in your mouth at the next bite.
And they are also very healthy to eat; as cookies go….
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When I asked for the recipe, my friend sent a link to the recipe on the “elana’s pantry” food blog. Please follow the link to the recipe if you are interested.
These wonderful biscotti are gone now, but certainly not forgotten. I plan to make a batch for Christmas, as a gift to those in my own family who eat a gluten free diet.
Whether you follow a restrictive diet or not, this recipe is well worth the effort to try it. It is actually an easier preparation than traditional biscotti, with fewer ingredients.
I would make only one change to this delicious recipe…. and it involves drizzling melted dark chocolate over the finished biscotti as they cool….
Forest Garden 