Mystery meat is, hands-down, the most dreaded thing to creep onto the plates of school children everywhere. In fact, any sort of unrecognizable food item was usual suspect to being pawned off on unsuspecting classmates or stuffed inside empty milk cartons.
But mystery ingredients can add an interesting flair in the kitchen. While recently cleaning out the pantry, my roommates stumbled on an unmarked eight ounce can. Just the silver, ribbed metal, no label, no indication of its contents. I snagged the can before it hit the garbage and, early one morning, decided I would use the mysterious ingredient, regardless of what it was, in some sort of baked good. Determined I could incorporate anything into a muffin, at least, I eagerly opened the can to a gooey, golden sauce. It smelled sugary, reminded me of caramel sauce and after licking a small glob off my pinky finger, determined the substance to be a sort of creamed butterscotch filling. I pawed through some of my recipes and picked a classic biscotti, using some of the basic ingredients and then improvising after adding the leading role in this theatrical production. With the initial base recipe, the dough was too moist, so I altered the flour measurement to give it more cohesion. Here’s what I conjured up in the kitchen:
Butterscotch Walnut Biscotti
Honey, walnuts and vanilla blend nicely to soften the harshly sweet of the butterscotch.
½ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons honey
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ Tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup crushed walnuts
1 (8 oz) can butterscotch
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook until browned. Remove immediately and place in a medium bowl, adding the brown sugar and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl and combine with the egg mixture. Mix in the walnuts and the creamed butterscotch. Combine well. If mixture is too moist, add more flour by the Tablespoon. Divide the dough into two loaves on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sides are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting the loaves into 1 inch slices. Flip the slices on their unbaked sides and return to oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, turning the slices once until toasted on all sides. Cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
