Saturday, December 8, 2007

Crunchy, Nutty and Chocolatey

So why was I so anxious to make Biscotti when I do not even like coffee? Simple, there is one tiny thing about me that you might not know yet and it just so happens to be that I love to eat crunchy food. I inherited this from my mother because she is the same way I am (although I will pick salty over sweet and she would go for the sweet).

I decided to go to the Joy of Baking website because their recipes are usually no fail. The one thing I did not like about this recipe is that the chocolate smeared all over the biscotti when I was cutting it into slices and I had to wipe my knife off between every cut. But that is just me being anal and thinking that everything has to be perfect. The taste is wonderful and I am looking forward to trying more biscotti recipes in the near future. The funniest moment was when I gave my husband a slice to try and it took him 3 attempts before he even bit a piece off. I warned him they were hard and crunchy but you know how men are, they see food and everything you are trying to tell them goes in one ear and out the other. :) But the important thing is that he said it was good.


Chocolate Almond Biscotti
(Source:
The Joy of Baking)

Recipe:
3/4 cup (110 grams) blanched whole
almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely
2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white
sugar
2 large
eggs
1 teaspoon
pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose
flour
4 ounces (110 grams)
semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped in 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. Set aside.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In bowl of your electric
mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes). (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chopped almonds and chocolate.

Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12 inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide. You may have to dampen your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer log to a
cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut log into slices 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick on the diagonal. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 10 - 15 minutes, turn slices over, and bake another 10 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 16 biscotti.



2 comments:

Renea said...

They look really great! Biscotti is on my list to try very soon.

Michelle said...

These look great! Good job on your first biscotti :)