This recipe is one of those fun, whimsical things that reminds you of childhood and all the sorts of artificially colored and flavored things that went with it...things like Bonnie Bell lipgloss, cream soda and Pink Sugar perfume. The nostalgia factor comes from both the adorable technicolor sprinkles (or "jimmies" if you're from Philly) and from an ingredient that I had heretofore considered both pointless and distasteful.
That ingredient is clear imitation vanilla. The cheap, artificially flavored, definitely-not-from-Madagascar fake vanilla with the notes of Pink Sugar and Bonnie Bell - as opposed to the caramel-colored real stuff. It's used frequently in icing (like wedding cake royal icing) and cake recipes where the color needs to stay perfectly white. Apparently clear vanilla is the secret ingredient in many Momofuku Milk Bar recipes. It's my new favorite thing.
Anyway, tl;dr - these biscotti will make you smile. The end.
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla
- 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil and sugar. whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and then fold in the sprinkles.
Line a baking sheet with parchment, divide dough into two equal parts, and then form long rectangles, about 4 inches wide. (If the dough is very sticky, flour your hands or add a bit more flour to make it easier to work with.) Leave a few good inches in between the rectangles because they will spread in the oven. Sprinkle the tops with a few pinches of sugar and then bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and reduce heat to 250F. Use a serrated knife to cut the rectangles into 1" pieces and place them on their sides. Make sure you cut straight up and down and perpendicular to the tray, if they are too thick on top they will topple over while baking. Bake at 250F for 20 more minutes, or until desired crispiness.
