double chocolate almond biscotti

February 6, 2007 at 11:03 pm | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies | Leave a comment

i don’t know why every time i set out to bake something new, i always end up baking something familiar, or do a spin-off of tested recipes. i wanted to finish up the small packet of white chocolate chips in the freezer and the half-used chopped almonds, so i made these.

this recipe uses eggs, so the resulting biscuit was more tender and soft compared to the previous nutella ones that i made. the flavour of cocoa came through nicely and the biscuit wasn’t too sweet.

adapted from joyofbaking.com

110 g (salted) butter, softened
150 g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
245 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
45 g unsweetened cocoa powder
60 g chopped almonds, toasted
45 g white chocolate chips
45 g (dark) chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius and place rack in center of oven. line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and set aside.

2. in the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. beat in the vanilla extract. in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. add to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. stir in the almonds and chocolate chips.

3. transfer the dough to a floured surface and divide it in half. form each half into a log. do this by rolling the dough back and forth into a cylinder shape with floured hands. transfer the logs to the baking sheet, spacing them well apart and pat to even the shapes. bake until firm to the touch, about 25 – 30 minutes (logs will spread during baking). remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and let cool for about 10 minutes.

4. using a long spatula transfer the logs to a cutting board. using a serrated knife, cut the logs into slices about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick on the diagonal. arrange the slices on the baking sheet and bake on about 10 – 15 minutes. turn the slices over and bake until crisp and dry, about 10 – 15 minutes longer. remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

(makes about 24 – 30 biscotti)