Chocolate Almond Biscotti
My love for coffee and tea led me to a curiosity around their ‘best friend’ biscotti. I can’t remember when I first tried biscotti- or if I ever have. Why eat biscotti when I could have a muffin or some other rich, moist treat? I began investigating this foreign food online and landed on this particular recipe because a. I had all the ingredients, and b. the combo of chocolate and almonds is the perfect way to get me to try anything new. I must say Wow! I can’t believe I didn’t try this dessert sooner! A quick dip in your warm drink and the combo between soggy and crunch leads back to my days of dunking Oreos in milk – yet with a much more grown up feel! My roommate and I indulged on biscotti and decaf tea/coffee at night the rest of the week — yes I felt like a queen.
Ingredients
Adapted by Joy of Baking
- 3/4 c blanched whole almonds
- 2/3 c white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 c all purpose flour
- 2/3 c semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Blanched Almonds – Place almonds in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and place in ice water. Peel off the almond skin with your fingers. Bake almonds in a 350 degree F ( oven for about 5-10 minutes, or until almonds are dry, but have no color.
Chocolate Almond Biscotti — Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast blanched almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool and set aside.
In a mixing bowl beat sugar and eggs on high speed until thick and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the eggs mixture and beat with a bread hook until combined. Chop chocolate and almonds and fold into the dough.
Place dough on a well flowered counter and shape into a log, around 12 inches long and 3.5 inches wide. Transfer log onto a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut 1/2 slices in the log.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Place biscotti slices, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, turn slices over and bake for another 8-10 minutes – or until golden brown. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
I was a little intimidated in making blanched almonds. But, it was like cooking tiny potatoes– boil, ice, peel, toast. Easy-no need for fear!
Stir together dry ingredients.
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