Friday, September 28, 2012

Amazing Race Nutella Biscotti

Amazing Race Nutella Biscotti

Being middle aged and not a tv watcher, I sometimes find myself a little out of touch.   As such, when rumor had it that Liv's dance choreographer had returned from a month-long adventure doing tv's Amazing Race, my mind immediately turned to food and dreams of exotic restaurants across the world.  Excited, I asked her, "So did you have any memorable meals??  What was your favorite?"

Obviously, I had never actually seen an episode of The Amazing Race, and Miss Abbie's comment of, "Well... we didn't really have time to enjoy any meals..." left me thinking, "Didn't she have time to eat??".

Yes, she did eat, but now that I have YouTubed two seasons of the reality show (can I mention here that I ❤  Mark and Bopper??), I have a better understanding of why she didn't have any memorable, in my way of thinking, meals.

For those of you out of the loop, The Amazing Race is a reality tv show which follows some 11 teams as they race around the world while facing some amazing physical as well as mental challenges.  Through a process of weekly eliminations, the final team wins the race.

According to a press release from CBS, "Teams will travel through three continents, nine countries and cover more than 25,000 miles, where they'll be faced with a 10-story rappel in Los Angeles, frying an egg on their heads in Indonesia, working as 'rat collectors' in Bangladesh and revisiting one of the Race's most infamous Roadblocks in the Netherlands in this season's Switchback."

Frying an egg on their heads in Indonesia??  Somehow that wasn't what I was thinking when I asked about memorable meals...



Meet Abbie & Ryan - Team Dark Green

A favorite choreographer of Liv's from her dance team, I'm eager to follow Abbie and her teammate, Ryan, on the show.  Following the rules of the show to a "T", Abbie has not given us a single clue as to how she fared in the competition, but if I had to make a guess, I'd put my money on her going pretty darn far, if not all the way.

Sample of Miss Abbie's choreography & costumes
A role model at Liv's dance studio, Abbie exemplifies talent, stamina, and a healthy competitive spirit. She challenges the girls to accomplish their best on a daily basis, not only in dance but in life in general.  And indeed, she often pulls that best out of them.

Remember "The Boots??".  Yep... she's the one that had me working all those hours painting, repainting and embellishing boots that she had turned into tap shoes for one of last year's numbers.  At the time, us dance moms were all asking, "What is she thinking???".  But then we saw the boots on stage, and we knew whatever she was thinking, it was awesome.

And speaking of awesome, our Nutella Biscotti is pretty darn awesome too.  Amazing, I might even say.

Originally made for a dance function last year, Miss Abbie was seen returning to the biscotti basket more than once (actually, I think it was something like 4 times...) along with the rest of the team members.  These Nutella Biscotti have become somewhat of a team tradition over the last year with numerous girls asking for the recipe as well as special birthday batches.


Nutella Biscotti, Coffee
Nutella Biscotti is the perfect afternoon snack even if you are not running the Amazing Race...
As it seems Miss Abbie's memorable Amazing Race meals may include frying those eggs on her head, I'm thinking that if she had stashed a few of these beauties into her pockets as she navigated those foreign streets, she may have had at least a snack to remember fondly.

Tune in this Sunday, September 30, 2012 for the premier episode of Season 21 of The Amazing Race.  We'll be rooting for team dark green...
Go Abbie & Ryan!!
Abbie & Ryan, Amazing Race Season 21
Abbie and Ryan, photo courtesy of The Amazing Race


Amazing Race Nutella Biscotti
adapted from Susi's Kochen Und Backen Adventures
While Susi's recipe includes Pistachios and a delightful glaze, I removed the nuts due to possible nut allergies at our event and didn't glaze due to portability.  Substituting chocolate chips for the nuts, the glaze wasn't missed, though I'm certain it would make these biscotti even more amazing.

Nutella Biscotti
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup + 2 Tbs Nutella**
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (Liv has been known to add more!) chocolate chips
1 egg white
raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.


In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the eggs, 1 egg yolk  and 1 cup granulated sugar until well mixed.  Add 3/4 cup + 2 Tbs (or a scant 1 cup for easier measuring) Nutella and mix well.  Gently stir in flour, salt and baking powder and chocolate chips.


Divide dough into 3 equal portions and form into 3 10-12 inch logs on the prepared baking sheets. Brush logs with remaining egg white and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon raw sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating baking sheet once after 15 minutes to ensure even baking.


Remove the biscotti from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs  into 1/2-inch (or slightly smaller if desired) slices.  Transfer the cookies back to the prepared baking sheet and stand them up... sort of like cutting the log into slices, then just spreading out the slices, but not laying them on their side.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300º and bake the biscotti for another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the biscotti onto a wire rack for cooling.  Note that the cookies will crisp as they cool.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week... though I can't vouch for the freshness at that point as ours never lasted more than a few days.

Liv Life Note:  When baking, I'm not always one to measure my ingredients (much to my Mother's horror) and the first time I made this recipe I did not read it all the way through... Susi calls for "1 cup of Nutella, divided.  My first batch used the entire 1 cup in the recipe and it turned out wonderfully.  In my past few batches I haven't even bothered to measure the Nutella, and have just eyeballed the amount.  They have all been successful!  Hence I increased her original measurement by 2 Tbs...

The Amazing Race

9 comments:

  1. We LOVE Amazing Race. Can't wait for it tomorrow. Now I have a team to cheer for.
    I am completely obsessed with Nutella - these look amazing!

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  2. It's been a while since I baked Biscotti. Your Nutella biscotti look amazing and mouth-watering, love the clicks!

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  3. Just made biscotti for the first time the other day....never thought of putting Nutella in it!! Sound soo good

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  4. How very cool to be a part of that show. I don't watch much tv either but I'm familiar with AR because the hub's doctor participated in the show also when he retired. I thought it was awesome!

    I could eat half the batch of your biscotti. They look so good!

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  5. i adore nutella, these look soooooooo delicious!!

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  6. Miss Abbie is a "beauty"! I have never watched this series either.. but after hearing a bit about it I'm intrigued.. Yes.. especially by the frying an egg on their heads! So glad she had your amazing biscotti to look forward too!

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  7. It's more fun when someone you know is in the TV or any event. It's more personal while most of the time you just watch the shows. Good luck Abbie and Ryan! I saw the video clip - they seem like a great team! Liv must be so excited that she's on the show!

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  8. Very good! I didn't have raw sugar, so I just liberally coated the top with sprinkles. I used orange ones to keep a Halloween theme. They are to be shipped across the country tomorrow to some people that I am sure will be very happy! (Well, maybe happy, it is a little bit of revenge for a friend that sent me a giant container of Nutella! If I am going to consume the calories, so is she!)

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