Low Carb Crunchy Cheese Biscotti

Fabulous munchies that keep virtually indefinitely. They are great as appetizers as well as anytime snacks if you’re a cheese devotee. Bis- cotti are baked twice. Baking twice may sound like twice the work, but it’s actually a pretty easy process. You bake the dough once in the form of mini-loaves, slice the loaves, and bake the slices as if they were cookies or crackers.

PREPARATION TIME: 45 minutes (requires two stages).

BAKING TIME (IN TWO STAGES): around 70 minutes.

SERVING SIZE: 1 biscotti.

AMOUNT PER SERVING: 0.9 gram of carb, 2.3 grams of protein.

NUMBER OF SERVINGS: 60.

	Ingredients	CHO (g)	PRO (g)
4	ounces cream cheese, soft	3.2	8.4
4	tablespoons butter (1⁄2 stick), soft	0	0
4	egg yolks	1.2	11.2
8	ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese	3.2	56.8	Buy now
1⁄4	cup unbleached, all-purpose wheat (white) flour	23.0	3.0	Buy now
1	teaspoon baking powder	1.2	0	Buy now
1⁄4	cup vital wheat gluten flour	5.6	26.0	Buy now
11⁄4	cups whole almond meal	15.0	30.0	Buy now
	Total	52.4	135.4

Once prepared, the dough will need to be refrigerated, so preheat oven to 325˚F shortly before taking dough from the fridge.

Beat cream cheese, butter, and two egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer with a flat beater until thick, smooth, and creamy. Add the last two egg yolks and beat for another minute. Add all remaining ingredients, stirring in at slow speed or by hand. Refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes or until it can be handled without sticking.

Shape dough in four rolls about 13⁄4 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. Set the rolls on a nonstick, heavy-gauge metal cookie sheet and flatten them into bars about 2 inches wide and 3⁄4 inch high. Bake for about 19 to 22 minutes or until golden.

Set oven temperature to 225˚F. Put the cooled cheese bars on a cut- ting board and slice each bar in about 15 pieces (use a sharp, serrated knife). Set pieces upright on the cookie sheet. Bake the biscotti until they have a light golden color, about 45 minutes (always check early—do not let them turn too dark). Allow the biscotti to cool, harden, and dry completely.