A close friend doesn’t understand my love for biscotti...
He asks “why would you intentionally make a cookie hard only to dip it in tea and soften it again?” A valid question, but one only needs to take a bite of a freshly-baked biscotti to know the reasons for my devotion.
When these twice-baked cookies were first invented in Tuscany many centuries ago, they included with pine nuts, almonds, and lemons or bitter oranges. Our modern chocolate version is easy to make at home. Enjoy them with a coffee at breakfast, tea with lunch, or dram of sherry after dinner—perfection.
Note:
In our recipes, all ingredients are expressed in grams. Volume measurements (cups, tablespoons) tend to be less accurate and cause troublesome inconsistencies. A small digital kitchen scale is an invaluable tool for any baker; at home or in the professional bakeshop.
Double Chocolate Biscotti
Once the flour is added, only mix until barely combined. Over-mixing will yield tough cookies.
352g Soft Butter
1013g Sugar
675g Eggs
1407g Honeycomb Bread Flour
281g Almond Flour
294g Dark Cocoa Powder,
35g Baking Powder
21g Kosher Salt
492g Chocolate Chips, Nuts, or other filling
Preheat the oven to 350*F.
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, stir in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until barely combined, finishing by hand if needed. You will have formed a thick cookie dough.
The fully-baked cookie logs are sliced into biscotti, then re-baked at a low temperature to finish drying.
Form into 500g logs and arrange on parchment-lined baking pans with plenty of room to spread during baking. Flatten them to 1” thick.
Bake the logs at 350*F for about 35 minutes, until fully baked and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 250*F
When completely cooled, slice the logs on the bias to create individual biscotti. Return these to the sheet pans. Bake again at 250*F until well dried, 15-20 minutes.
(Makes 40-50 biscotti.)