Chocolate Almond Biscotti

May 24, 2012 by Gina Mueller

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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Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Jul 24, 2011 by Gina Mueller

It was one of those days where I woke up thinking of chocolate… yes this happens often.  A little morning and a little chocolate so why not a coffee and chocolate combination.  I found this recipe on PetiteKitchenesse a few months ago and marked it because they looked amazing and the ingredients were simple.  And WOW were they good especially if you undercooked them to perfection and added a little vanilla ice cream.

Yield: around 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2⅔ cups (around 16 oz.) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 tablespoons of butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1⅓ cups of granulated sugar
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup of all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon espresso
• 1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until a smooth mixture forms.  I created a double broiler with a glass bowl.

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