Ingredients
- unsalted whole almonds
- 1½ cups
- flour
- 3 cups
- baking powder
- 2 tsp
- salt
- ½ tsp
- cinnamon
- 1½ tsp
- nutmeg (fresh grated)
- ¼ tsp
- cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 4 tbsp
- espresso bean powder, turkish grind
- 6 tbsp (see NOTES section)
- eggs
- 4
- butter
- 2 tbsp
- sugar
- 1 cups
- brown sugar
- ½ cups
- vanilla extract
- 1 tsp
- almond extract
- 1 tsp
- eggs
- 1
- whole milk
- 2 tbsp
- dark chocolate (70%)
- 9 oz (3 bars)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, put racks in the upper and lower third positions. You will be toasting almonds, and twice baking the biscotti. The instructions are throughout the steps below. But total bake/cooling time will be about 2hr.
- Spread single layer of almonds on cookie sheet, toast at 350°F for 10min until aromatic. Shake around nuts periodically for even toasting. Cool nuts quickly to room temperature in the refrigerator.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, and espresso bean powder.
- In a small bowl, whisk four eggs.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Add dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly by hand. Add toasted almonds and mix by hand. Add 3/4 of whisked eggs mixture, mix with lightly floured hands. The dough will be very sticky. If dough is not wet enough, add more egg. Too much egg will make the biscotti turn out too soft. Once the dough is firm, form it into a ball and divide into 2 equal pieces.
- On a lightly floured surface, using your hands, roll dough into two logs that are 4in wide, 0.75in thick. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Lightly beat 1 egg and milk, and brush loaves thoroughly.
- Bake at 350°F for 40min, rotating pan halfway through. Remove pan and cool on rack for 30-40min, until cool to touch.
- REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 250°F.
- Slice logs with a serrated knife into ½” wide cookies (if cookie is crumbling, cool further). Bake at 250°F for 10min, with biscotti on their side directly on the cookie sheet. Flip biscotti to other side and bake another 10min. Remove from oven, and cool completely on wire rack.
- Melt dark chocolate in double boiler over medium heat. As chocolate begins to melt, remove it from heat and stir continuously until silky. Dip the bottom of biscotti in chocolate, place on wax paper to cool. Once chocolate layer has cooled and hardened, repeat dipping. The refrigerator is a good place to accelerate the chocolate cooling.
Notes
self-help coffee grinder at my grocery store, and ground about 6 tbsp worth of espresso beans set to “turkish.” The powder seemed to taste fine.
Adding more eggs to biscotti makes them softer, and more cake-like. I like only a little softness, and find about four eggs make great biscotti.