Chocolate Biscotti

Oh my, if you love chocolate you will love this cookie. It is sooo good. I had to stop myself from eating the dough.

The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking…From My Home to Yours and is not a Tuesdays with Dorie selection! It was the December 2006 selection from the online baking group, The Daring Bakers.

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla paste)
• 1 c. chopped almonds, blanched or unblanched (I used unblanched)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 3/4 c. store-bought mini chocolate chips (I used chopped milk chocolate)
• Sugar for dusting

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.Sift together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale, about 2 minutes; the mixture may be crumbly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes; don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate, then turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into 12 inch long logs. Flatten both logs with the palm of your hand so that they are 1/2 to 1 inch high, about 2 inches across and sort of rectangular, then carefully lift the logs onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar.

Bake the logs for about 25 minutes, or until they are just slightly firm. The logs will spread and crack – and that’s just fine. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, put it on a cooling rack and cool the logs for about 20 minutes. (Leave the oven on.)

Working with one log at a time, using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet – you’ll have an army of biscotti – and bake the cookies again, this time for just 10 minutes.

Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.Makes about 40 cookies.

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