What is biscotti?
Biscotti (/bɪˈskɒti/; Italian pronunciation: [bisˈkɔtti]; English: twice-cooked), known also as cantucci, are Italian almond biscuits that originated in the city of Prato. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy, and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. (from Wikipedia)
Knowing the good stuff
Biscotti is a great cookie all around. Coffee or tea, they are by far the most perfectly paired cookie to either drink. The crispness of the twice baked cookie makes for the best cookie to dunk! Come on guys, live on the edge and dunk those cookies in your tea!
What you will need:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/3 cup of sliced almonds
- 1/3 cup of dark chocolate or vegan semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 – 1 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 3 1/2 Tbsp water
- 4 Tbsp sugar or granulated stevia
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
Let’s get baking!
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Toast your almonds in the preheating oven. You will be able to smell when they are good to go, about 8 minutes.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and orange zest until completely combined. I like to keep my orange zest in longer pieces as opposed to finely diced. It gives you a big punch of citrus flavor once in a while.
- Make a little well in the middle and add your sugar into the well.
- Mix oil,water, and almond extract together and pour over the sugar.
- Stir from the center of the bowl (as if you were making pasta). This incorporates the liquids into the dry mix better and more evenly.
- Time to get messy! Once the mixture gets less sticky, get your hands in there (it’s the best part of baking).
- Add in your chocolate chips and toasted almond slices.
- Separate the dough into two pieces, about 2 inch wide flattened logs and place them about 3-4″ apart on a baking sheet. Tip: use parchment paper if you don’t feel like having more dishes to wash.
- Bake for 20 minutes (adjust time and temps according to your elevation).
- When you gently push on the dough after the 20 minutes, it should be firm.
- Take the baked logs out of the oven to cool for 5-10 minutes or until easily sliced with a very sharp serrated knife. You want something sharp because of the almonds and the dryness of the cookie. If your knife isn’t sharp enough… well… that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
- Reduce the oven temp to 320°.
- Cut the slightly cooled log to 1/2 inch slices.
- Put back on the baking sheet on the sliced side down.
- Bake for 10 minutes, flip to the other sliced side, bake for another 10 minutes.
- Take your biscotti out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes so that it gets that hardness to it that you look for in a good biscotti (or be like me and eat it straight out of the oven and burn your mouth on the molten lava chocolate chips. Ouch!).
- Use an air tight container to store them or a Ziploc bag (make sure you press as much of the air out as possible) or they will get stale. They should be good for about 5-7 days, not that they will last that long.
Jen's Vegan Kitchen 