Pieces of chocolate biscotti in a white mug.

I made these biscotti as part of the package I put together for Operation Baking GALS (sorry it’s taken me a while to get this post up!), which also included plain vanilla biscotti and chocolate chip biscotti. These biscotti come courtesy of Dorie Greenspan and were actually the second-ever Daring Baker challenge, back in December of 2006. Since I’ve been wanting to tackle all of the old DB challenges as part of My 100 list, and given that I had already decided to do a biscotti theme for my package, I thought throwing in these biscotti only made sense. I wouldn’t be a good baker if I didn’t taste test what I was shipping off (*wink*), so I made sure to give these a try. I thought they were absolutely fabulous and plan on adding them to my list of things that will go in my Christmas packages this year.

Piece of chocolate biscotti on a white plate.

Although these call for almonds, given my nut allergies I wouldn’t have been able to taste test them, so I went with chopped white chocolate. This was perfect, I loved the balance it gave to the dark chocolate in the recipe.

Pieces of chocolate biscotti in a white mug.

Chocolate Biscotti

A chocolate version of an Italian classic
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Ingredients

  • 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
  • ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¾ stick (0.75 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, 6 tablespoons
  • 1 cup (200 g) sugar
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (143 g) chopped almonds, blanched or unblanched (I subbed 1 cup chopped white chocolate)
  • 4 ounces (113.4 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or ¾ cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
  • Sugar, for dusting

Instructions 

  • 1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.
  • 2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  • 3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale, about 2 minutes; the mixture may be crumbly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes; don't worry if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the chopped nuts and chocolate, then turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.
  • 4. Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into 12-inch-long logs. Flatten both logs with the palm of your hand, so that they are ½ to 1 inch high, about 2 inches across and sort of rectangular, then carefully lift the logs onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar.
  • 5. Bake the logs for about 25 minutes, or until they are just slightly firm. The logs will spread and crack - and that's just fine. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, put it on a cooling rack and cool the logs for about 20 minutes. (Leave the oven on.)
  • 6. Working with one log at a time, using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between ½ and ¾ inch thick. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet - you'll have an army of biscotti - and baking the cookies again, this time for just 10 minutes.
  • 7. Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.
Calories: 169kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 21mg, Sodium: 138mg, Potassium: 135mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 110IU, Calcium: 30mg, Iron: 1.3mg

Did you make this recipe?

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