Date and Nut Biscotti

I have found a new obsession: dates. Never having really experienced dates before venturing to Southern California I was pleasantly surprised to realize, I love them. They have a delightfully chewy texture and a sweetness reminiscent of honey.

For my job, I had the opportunity to visit one of the state of California's Agricultural Experiment Stations in Coachella. There they have a date palm germoplasm where they keep several different varieties of date lines going for the USDA. It is something similar to a seed-bank, only with trees instead of seeds. I was able to sample some of the different varieties they grow there. The diversity of date varieties is fantastic. Some are plump and meaty, while some are drier and chewier. Most are light brown, but some are green, some black, and a few are even a beautiful deep purple color. At the Agricultural Experiment Station my boss and I were generously given a large box of Majool dates fresh off the palm trees. I originally intended to make something with the dates I was given several weeks ago, but I ate them all! So after purchasing some dates at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, on Sunday, I've finally made something delicious that incorporates dates: date and nut biscotti. The biscotti recipe is loosely based on a recipe given to me by my great-grandmother, so you know they have to be good!

Date and Nut Biscotti

1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 lb of dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup pecans

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Incorporate the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, sift together. Add the chopped dates to the dry ingredients and toss so that the chunks are separated from one another and covered in the flour mixture, set aside. In a separate bowl place vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, honey, and vanilla and whisk together. Add the dry ingredients, raisins, and pecans to the wet ingredients and fold together into the batter is nicely incorporated. On a cookie sheet form three "logs" across the sheet that you will bake and later cut into biscotti. Bake the logs for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cut across the short way to create your individual biscotto. Turn the biscotti on their sides, so that the side that was in the center of the log now faces up, and place back into the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden brown on the top. I would recommend enjoying these for breakfast with a cup of tea or a cappuccino!