One of my best friends from college always sends us homemade biscotti for Christmas. Her family is Italian and it is a tradition to bake biscotti for the holidays. This year, I decided to make my own to give to our friends and teachers to enjoy with their morning Joe. This biscotti is very rich and compliments coffee or expresso perfectly. You will get your chocolate fix too!
You can also serve the biscotti with hot cocoa or warm milk. After researching cacao powder for the Rich and Creamy Cocoa post, I decided to use a dutch chocolate for this recipe and splurged on Valrhona. The dutch chocolate adds so much to this cookie.
Unfortunately, this recipe has eggs so my son could not enjoy it. I bought Curious George chocolate bars to distract him and it worked. Elana’s Pantry does have an eggless biscotti and it is on my list to try. It is gluten free since the recipe calls for almond flour.
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place half the hazelnuts in a food processor and pulse to chop the hazelnuts into small pieces. Then add the other half and pulse once or twice to keep some chunks. Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 8 minutes.
2) Place the top rack near the top of the oven and the 2nd rack toward the bottom of the oven so you can fit two cookie sheets in the oven.
3) In the food processor, combine 2 tablespoons of the hazelnuts, 1 3/4 cup of unbleached flour, 2 tablespoons of the chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of DUTCH cocoa, 1 tablespoon of expresso powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. I used the Hand Harvested Fleur de Sel. Process until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer dry ingredients to a large bowl.
4) In the same food processor, combine 1 cup of cane or coconut sugar, 2 eggs, 2 egg whites and 1 tablespoon of vanilla until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the remaining hazelnuts and chocolate chips.
5) Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll into a log. Place two logs on one cookie sheet and the other two on the other. Bake for 15 minutes until the log is firm. If you do not have a convection oven, turn the sheets around at 7 or 8 minutes into cooking.
6) Remove from the oven and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces using a serrated knife. Separate the pieces about 1 inch apart and bake again for 20-25 minutes until dry to the touch.
7) Cool and store in an airtight container or enjoy immediately with your coffee or hot chocolate.
8) You can wrap these as gifts using a compostable plastic bag and custom label from My Own Labels. They make great gifts.
The Ultimate Cookbook
Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
Preparation time: 45 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes
¾ cup hazelnuts, chopped, divided
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided
½ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso or coffee powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake until light brown, about 8 minutes. Cool. Line two large baking sheets with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Adjust the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds. In a food processor, combine 2 tablespoons of the hazelnuts, the flour, 2 tablespoons of the chocolate chips, the cocoa, expresso powder, baking soda and salt. Process until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer dry ingredients to a large bowl. In the same food processor, combine the sugar, eggs, egg whites and vanilla until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the remaining hazelnuts and chocolate chips. Spoon ¼ of the batter (about ¾ cup) into a rope about 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide, on one side of the baking sheet. Repeat with two ropes on each baking sheet. Place one sheet on each rack. Bake, reversing sheets once, until firm, about 15 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Place the logs on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut into 1/2-inch slices, making about 80 biscotti. Place the slices upright on the baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake until the cut sides feel dry to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 40 servings.
Per serving (2 pieces): 76 Calories, 2 grams Protein, 3 grams Fat (percent calories from fat, 35), 12 grams Carbohydrates, 11 milligrams Cholesterol, 42 milligrams Sodium, 1 gram Fiber.
