Mezzaluna

Ok, so this is another example of rescuing a mistake. Might still have another go at how they should be...

I found a recipe, that looked easy to adapt, for Biscotti alla Vaniglia (Vanilla Biscuits to you and me) in an Italian cooking magazine I bought back from a recent trip (I'm sure I used to bring back food and alcohol, not sure what went wrong). 

Unfortunately, I wasn't paying much attention and put in the equivalent fluid for a whole egg instead of a yolk! Ended up with a very soft mix more like cake. Tried microwaving for 30seconds, good texture cooked, but spread too much. Added a bit more flour and a little raising agent et voila (or ecco la if you prefer the italian).

50g Sugar
80g Dairy and Soya Free Spread
1tpn vanilla paste (or extract)
40mls Oat cream or other milk substitute
50g ground pine nuts* 
Grated zest from an unwaxed lemon (optional)
125g GF bread flour
1tsp egg replacer
1/2 tsp baking powder
icing sugar to decorate (optional)

* Original recipe used ground almonds, but I thought pine nuts would likely to be tolerated by more of you. You can either put them in a food bag and bash them with a rolling pin, they don't need to be evenly or smoothly ground, or whizz them in a blender. They are much oilier than almonds so you are more likely to end up with a paste as you can see in the photo below.

Put sugar, vanilla, spread and oat cream  (and lemon zest, if using) in a bowl and whisk until pale.

Tip in rest of ingredients and fold in with spatula or spoon.

Spoon into piping bag (disposable ones are readily available now and cut down risk of cross contamination, but I've always just used a bit of rolled up greaseproof paper. I was going to include instructions, but it's very difficult to photograph and roll and fill! Fortunately Iced Gem Bakes has instructions on her blog). 

Pipe crescents onto greaseproof paper.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 180ºc for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges.

Cool on wire rack and dust with icing sugar before serving.