Banana Biscotti

I made this as a treat for the babies at Max’s 6 month birthday party, it went down an absolute treat and is able to be enjoyed by teething babies and anybody else that fancies a piece.  If you're worried your baby may bite off a piece you could wrap the biscuit in muslin.

Ingredients:
½ cup ripe mashed banana
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 large egg yolk
2 (packed down) tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup self-raising flour (sifted)
pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons water if necessary

Turn the oven on to 160˚C.
Mash the banana with a fork on a board, once mashed place it in a measuring cup to ensure you have the right amount – I found one small banana was about right, then put into a medium-sized bowl with the egg yolk, vanilla and brown sugar.
Sift in the flour and salt.  Fold everything together until the flour is dampened, without over mixing, adding water if the mixture seems thicker than a muffin batter.
Line the long sides and bottom of a loaf tin with a strip of baking paper, then spoon in the mixture. Level its top with the back of a wet spoon.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until a skewer or toothpick comes out cleanly, then take your loaf from the oven, remove from the baking tin and cool on a rack.  The loaf should be a pale colour, not golden brown.
Turn down the oven to 125˚C.
When the loaf is cool or cold, cut it into 5-10mm slices (depending on how thick you would like your pieces) with a sharp, serrated knife (they don't taste very good at this stage).
Lie the slices in one layer on a cooling rack or oven rack and bake them again at the lower temperature for 20 minutes, or until the slices are golden brown and crisp right through (you will need to take one from the oven and cool it before you can check that it is dry in the middle).  Watch carefully, since the flavour is spoilt if the biscotti brown too much.

Store in airtight jars for up to two weeks, but, if your baby is anything like Max or the others we had around here it won’t last that long!

 Max and his friend Kaitlin enjoying some biscotti together