Salonika Biscotti with Dried Fruit and Nuts

A crisp, twice-baked biscuit packed with dried fruit and nuts — the kind of thing you want alongside tea or coffee, or as something substantial between meals.

Currants, walnuts, apricots, blueberries, pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts all go in, which is what gives these their depth. They keep for a month in a sealed jar, so one batch goes a long way.

Makes about 40 pieces

Ingredients

4 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup pistachios
1 cup mixed dried fruit (blueberries, apricots, raisins, pineapple, kiwi, coconut — whatever you like)
1/2 cup unsalted hazelnuts
1/2 cup almonds
2 teaspoons aniseed

Method

Preheat the oven to 340°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.

Beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until pale and thick — this takes a good 3 to 4 minutes, and it is what gives the biscuits their structure.

Add the oil and aniseed and mix for another minute.

Roughly chop the dried fruit and nuts with a knife. Leave them chunky; you want to see them in the finished biscuit.

Fold in the flour and baking powder, then the orange zest, dried fruit, nuts and vinegar. The dough will be stiffer than cake batter — closer to a thick cookie dough.

Spread the dough into a flat log on the prepared pan, roughly 4 inches wide and 1 inch tall.

Bake at 340°F for about 20 minutes, until the surface is lightly golden.

Let it cool until you can handle it, then slice crosswise into thin fingers, about 1/2 inch thick. Cutting while still slightly warm gives clean edges — cold and it crumbles.

Lay the slices flat on a wire rack or back on the pan and return to the oven at 300°F, convection setting, for 20 to 25 minutes, until dry and crisp all the way through.

Cool completely before storing. They keep in a sealed glass jar for up to a month.