Best Biscotti Cioccolato
Submitted by MikeMurray6
Italian double-baked chocolate biscotti with toasted almonds, cocoa, espresso powder, and a surprise hint of ginger and white pepper. Crisp, dark, and dunk-ready.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
70 minREADY
110 minThe Italian dunking cookie at its most chocolate-forward. Cocoa powder, espresso powder, and chopped semi-sweet chocolate triple-stack the chocolate flavor, while toasted almonds and an unexpected hit of white pepper and ground ginger add a savory edge that keeps it from going one-note sweet.
The double-bake is what gives biscotti their signature crisp. The first 50-minute bake sets the loaf shape. The second 15-to-20-minute bake (after slicing) drives out the remaining moisture, leaving the cookies dry enough to last weeks in a tin and rigid enough to dunk in coffee without crumbling.
Toasting the almonds first is critical. Raw almonds taste flat in baked goods. The 13-minute toast at the start of the recipe pulls out the nuts’ oils and intensifies the flavor so they read clearly against the cocoa.
Processing the chopped chocolate with some of the dry ingredients is the clever bit. The flour absorbs the cocoa butter and prevents the chocolate from melting into a paste, so you end up with fine, even chocolate flecks distributed through the dough rather than gooey pockets.
White pepper and ginger sound strange but make sense in chocolate. The pepper amplifies the cocoa’s heat. The ginger adds warmth without spice. Together they give these biscotti depth most chocolate cookies lack.
Pro Tips
- Use a serrated bread knife for slicing the partially baked logs. A regular knife crushes them. Saw gently with a back-and-forth motion.
- Let the logs cool 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Hot logs crumble. Cold logs crack.
- Cut diagonal slices ⅔ to ¾ inches thick. Thinner slices over-dry on the second bake. Thicker slices stay too soft in the middle.
- Store in an airtight tin for up to a month. Biscotti taste better after a couple of days.
Variations
- Swap almonds for hazelnuts (skinned) and use ground cinnamon instead of pepper for a more traditional Italian profile.
- Dip cooled biscotti halfway in melted chocolate for a dessert-leaning version.
- Add 1 teaspoon orange zest and ¼ cup chopped candied orange peel for chocolate-orange biscotti.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃) F and toast almonds in a wide, shallow pan in the center of the oven, stirring once for 13 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
Adjust two racks to divide oven in thirds and reduce temperature to 300℉ (150℃).
Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil, shiny side up, and set aside.
In a small bowl beat the eggs with the brown sugar and vanilla and almond extracts.
Sift together into the large bowl of an electric mixer the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, ginger, cocoa, espresso, and granulated sugar.
Place the chocolate on a cutting board and shred/chop it fine with a sharp knife.
Place the cut chocolate in bowl of food processor.
Add about ½ cup of sifted dry ingrediens and process for 1 minute until chocolate is fine andamp; powdery.
Add chocolate mixture and egg mixture to dry ingredients.
Beat on low speed, scraping bowl as necessary.
Slowly beat in the nuts.
Lightly flour a work surface and turn dough out onto it.
Lightly sift flour over dough.
Cut dough in half.
Turn one piece so that it is completely dusted with flour.
Form elongated oval about 10 inches long.
Place on baking sheet.
It may break apart, so just reshape it.
Oval should be 3 inches wide in middle and ½ to ¾ inches high.
Bake 2 sheets at a time for 50 minutes reversing sheets top to bottom and front to back once during baking.
Remove from oven.
Reduce oven temp to 275 degrees .
Peel away foil.
With serrated bread knife, cut ⅔ to ¾ inches diagonal strips.
Place them cut side up on baking sheet.
Turn biscotti upside down and continue to bake until dry about 15 to 20 minutes.
Do not overbake.
Cool and store in airtight tins.
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