Low-Fat Almond Biscotti

Weight: 156.2

No more falling off the bandwagon during the weekend (time to test the will power starting today... FRIDAY!) I was down to 155 and 1 weekend of not calorie counting ended up like this... it's now 1 week later and my weight hasn't gone back to pre-weekend blunder weight. Not going to lie, I am feeling pretty discouraged.

I was very active this week and watched my calories. I was busy with wii fit, boxing, swimming, water aerobics, chasing kids around the indoor playground and I even made and effort to walk instead of drive many times this week... what the heck?!

Anyways... I tried out a recipe for low-fat almond biscotti in my Clean Eating cookbook and it is heavenly! So I had to share. Biscotti goes wonderfully with
tea or coffee. It is sweet enough to take a craving away but it is not too sweet to make you feel guilty (and the nutritional information will make you forget you are having a treat). Enjoy!

Low-Fat Almond Date Biscotti

From The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp butter, softened

3 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract (I did another tsp of vanilla)

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup chopped dates or other dried fruit (cranberry is nice. I used chopped prunes.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients except almonds and dried fruit. Stir to mix well. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter until the mixture has the texture of coarse oatmeal. Stir in the egg whites and extracts. Fold in almonds and fruit. **I found that it took some kneading to get all of the flour incorporated into the dough.
2. Shape dough into two 9 x 2 inch logs. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Place the logs on the sheet. Allow four inches of space between each log for spreading. Bake for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Cool the logs at room temperature for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally into half-inch-thick slices.
4. Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet in a single layer, cut side down. Return to 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, turn the slices over and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
5. Serve or store.

Makes approx. 18 biscotti

Nutritional Information (1 biscotti):

Calories: 95; Total Fat: 4g; Sodium: 12mg; Carbs: 12g; Sugars: 6g; Fiber: 2g; Protein: 2g