Chocolate Biscotti

I’m almost done with my second week at my new job, and today I realized that I have yet to introduce any of my new coworkers to my tasty treats.

I rarely baked for my coworkers at my old job, because everyone was too good–no one would eat it. Plus, my office was pretty small and there weren’t many people, so even a single batch of cookies was too much to bring.

My new company is a completely different story; I discovered this last week, on St. Patrick’s Day. I was meeting with a coworker in a common area of the office when someone came in to announce that there were clover-shaped cookies in the kitchen. People ran, y’all. When I went into the kitchen a while later, it looked like the cookie platter had been raked over by a pack of wolves. And so I knew: These people like to eat.

I’ve had a few biscotti recipes bookmarked for quite some time. I’ve been intending to try them, as I’ve never made biscotti before, but it’s rare that I bake up breakfast treats, so I haven’t had much opportunity to make them. But as I took a few minutes earlier today to brainstorm about what I could bring my new coworkers, I quickly settled on biscotti–two different kinds of biscotti. Oh yeah, baby: Go big or go home.

First up is this chocolate biscotti from Dorie. That’s right; I got to bust out the Baking Bible!

Instead of making them exactly as the recipe calls for, I tried a variation that I saw posted at Proceed With Caution, which substituted white chocolate chips for the almonds. Yum.

This biscotti has wonderful chocolate flavor, and although I thought the white chocolate chips were a bit overpowered by the cocoa, they still added just a little extra something that made these so perfect. Delectably crunchy… there is no doubt my coworkers will love them!

Chocolate Biscotti
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients:
– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
– 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder (I replaced with additional cocoa powder)
– 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1 cup sugar
– 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
– 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
– 1 cup chopped almonds, blanched or unblanched (or about 4 ounces white chocolate chips)
– 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (I only had regular-sized chocolate chips, so I chopped them up so they were smaller)
– Sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

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.

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 1/2 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.

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.)

Working with one log at a time, using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet–you’ll have an army of biscotti–and bake the cookies again, this time for just 10 minutes.

Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.