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Right out of the oven!
I know I’ve already posted my recipe for our favorite dark chocolate chip biscookies, but truth be told, I prefer these chocolate almond biscotti. They taste chocolaty, my fave, and not too sweet so they pair well with coffee, tea or even simple hot water with lemon.
I have been making these for as long as I can remember – at least ten years. This recipe is straightforward, easy and the finished cookies freeze for up to six months. Needless to say, you can root around in my home freezer and almost always find a stash I’ve hidden away. I often pack these for an airplane ride in case I need a chocolate fix, too.
I’ve made these with pecans or walnuts, but almonds are my favorite – there’s just no nut quite as crunchy IMHO. By all means, you can substitute any nut of your choosing. And I’ve been partial to Scharffenberger cocoa powder but I’m sure this would work well with any high end type of chocolate. So without further ado, I present to you….
Chocolate logs – just baked
Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Makes 30-ish
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup Scharffenberger cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅓ tsp ground black pepper (You can omit this if you have eaters who don’t like extra pepper. I love the zing it adds but some of my family prefer the cookies without)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ stick melted salted butter
- 1 ¼ cups toasted chopped almonds or hazelnuts or pecans or walnuts (I chop and toast these the day before)
Instructions
Put rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an unrimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Melt butter over low heat and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, soda, salt and pepper.
In another bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add cooled, melted butter and continue whisking.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients in your bowl and add the liquid mixture, then stir in the nuts.
With barely floured hands, (some may prefer damp hands) roll two 14-inch logs on a floured surface (I use my handy dandy silicone mat) and space evenly on your baking sheet. Make sure the rolls are even on the sides on on top.
Bake the dough for 25 minutes, until firm. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes on a rack. Slice on the diagonal width into ½ inch slices with serrated knife (I use my electric knife) and arrange on the parchment lined sheet on their bottoms with both cut sides exposed. Bake another 20 minutes.
Remove the cookie sheet from oven and let the cookies cool and store at room temperature in a jar for up to two weeks. Or store in the freezer for up to six months – but believe me, they will never last that long!
