There is nothing nicer than the crunchy taste of a small slice of biscotti with tea or coffee. And for a treat, what better than something low in calories with no saturated fat. This is a recipe that requires 2 days to make but it is so worth it.

This biscotti only uses egg whites which is why they are low in saturated fat. However they do have white sugar and white flour so treat them as a ‘just need something else’ food. They tend to brown easily on the second baking, so keep an eye on them while they are in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 3  large egg whites
• ½  cup of castor sugar
• 1  cup plain flour
• ½  a cup of raw whole almonds
• zest of 1 orange
• 2  Tbsp orange juice
• Few drops of orange essence.

Instructions:

Heat oven to 170 °c / 350 °f

Beat eggs white until soft peaks form.

Add sugar beating gradually.

Fold in all other ingredients.

Line a 25 cm x 8 cm (10in x 3in) loaf or bar tin with baking paper.

Turn out mixture into the tin.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until it is just firm to the touch.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

When completely cool wrap in cling film.

Refrigerate for about 24 hours.

The next day preheat the oven to 160 °c / 325°f fan bake

Slice the ‘bread’ into thin slices using a very sharp bread knife.

I usually get about 30 however this number can be increased by the slice of a knife.

Bake slices on a cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes keep a watch over them so they don’t get too tanned.

DietDitch Notes:

The lining of the tin doesn’t have to be perfect – I usually grease it with a little butter to help the paper stick and just cut a piece of paper larger than the tin so it comes up the sides.

Then I tuck the corners back to make it a bit neater.

These yummy slices  keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight cookie jar.