Chocolate Almond Biscotti
22 Dec
One thing that puts me in the Christmas spirit is making biscotti. A couple years ago, I made several jars of biscotti as Christmas gifts. They weren’t the best batch I’d ever made – but they were a start, and they brought me to now. I think I’ve finally found one of the best biscotti recipes, and I’m glad I put it to good use. I made a batch last night for my boss as a Christmas gift.
In the past, my biscotti baking troubles always surrounded the dough. I would try substituting butter for other items, and it didn’t hold up quite well. Although they were low fat, they didn’t look or taste like biscotti. This year I decided to use mostly real ingredients and cut back where I saw fit.
I put the two loaves on a pan and baked in the oven for 35 minutes. I then removed them, sliced them and put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes on each side. The result? A beautiful almond glow. If you could capture bliss in a cookie form, I think this would be it.
And of course – the kicker – CHOCOLATE. You can’t go wrong with it, my friends. You just can’t.
Want to make these for you and your friends? Here’s the recipe:
Chocolate Almond Biscotti
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3/4 cup blanched almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely
Directions
[Preheat oven to 350 degrees]
1. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
2. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar together using a mixer. After about a minute or so, add both eggs (one at a time). Then add the extracts.
3. Slowly combine the flour mixture into this bowl. Be sure to scrap the sides of the bowl. Beat for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the almonds slowly and mix just slightly. (I actually mixed this part by hand).
5. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Remove from oven and slice pieces diagonally. Spread out the slices onto the pan.
7. Bake on each side for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Let rest and then add chocolate. I melted chocolate, spread it on a plate and dipped the bottoms of the biscotti into the chocolate.
Enjoy!
These look wonderful Rose! I love the layer of chocolate. When I’ve made chocolate almond biscotti in the past, I’ve just thrown chocolate chips in the dough. I think these look quite elegant.
yum! Thanks for the recipe! I can smell the deliciousness through the computer screen
Those look so lovely!!! I have a huge thing for good biscotti… I should try them!
Those look great. I’ve always been a little scared to make biscotti. It just sounds difficult for some reason.
My Momma and I have been talking about baking biscotti since Thanksgiving!! We ate bags and bags of it in Italy last year and have been dreaming about it ever since (okay, maybe just me).
PS love your new header. LOVE IT.
Although I love biscotti, I’ve never tried making it myself. It’s been far too long since my last biscotti fix, so I might just have to try this recipe! Thanks:)
I love biscotti! I’m sure adding chocolate to it just makes it that much better! Yum! Thanks for the recipe!
wow. Im so impressed….I buy mine
always.
This looks delicious! I have never made biscotti.
Oh YUM! I made peppermint biscotti last night and they were really good. I was pretty proud of myself making something so fancy
I might very well be making these as New Year’s gifts for my boss and colleagues.
This was a great recap – you are very creative! Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do on posts! Merry Christmas – here’s to 2010 eats!
Those look incredible! And I definitely think real ingredients are the way to go, especially with Christmas treats!
Thanks for sharing.