Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I have so far only one confirmed biscotti recipe - Almond Chocolate Chips. Having said that, I had experimented with different cut size, different baking time etc. I think (I hope) I know which is the best combination. Since both MC and MFG also liked that recipe, it's a sure pass.

I've tried baking a chocolate base biscotti the last time, with pecan and chocolate chips (I can't seem to be able to forgo chocolate chips), but it was not good, leave alone a very troublesome baking method.

For curiosity sake, I want to try baking a chocolate base biscotti one last time (at least until I find a recipe that is so convincing, or maybe something from Jamie Oliver. MC, does Jamie has biscotti recipe? Don't remember coming across one).

Anyways, I thought this is quite a believable recipe and don't seem to be that complicated. Actually, compared with my confirmed recipe, this seems less troublesome since no electric mixer is required. And so I thought wrong... this recipe required kneading the dough and it was a very though dough! Didn't expect that type of consistency.

There was also one tricky instruction - the ingredient list says 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. The method says "... add almond, and the eggs....". EGGS? The 2 eggs, or the 2 eggs AND the yolk? At the end of the recipe, it says "brush the dough with egg yolk".

So I guess just the 2 eggs without the yolk. But after kneading for a while, I realize that some of the flour couldn't be mixed together, so I added the egg yolk as well, and brush the dough with another egg yolk before baking.

Whatever do we want to brush egg yolk? I actually don't like the outcome of the egg wash. It's rather erm... yellow. See...


I didn't think the biscotti looked "pretty" with the egg yolk wash even after slicing them. One thing about slicing biscotti - if you slice them when they are just baked, it's easy since the dough is still soft, but since it's soft, the biscotti will crumble. Leaving the biscotti for about 5 minutes makes slicing a bit more difficult but you will find that the biscuit slices are more intact.

Sliced biscotti ready for second bake. If you want really crispy slices, cut them as think as possible and bake for a longer time (the dryer the crispier), but I also discovered (and according to feedback) that it will be a bit hard. Something like crispy equals hard. MFG said he likes it crispy, but the parents finds it a bit hard. A baking time of 10 to 15 minutes maximum would be just nice for the second baking.

Biscuits look presentable, looks yummy enough and I'm sure would be great with dipping into coffee. I've reduced the sugar a lot since I've substitute half the almond with chocolate chips. Cousin sis said it's not sweet enough and a bit tasteless, plus she doesn't like almond nut, just for the sake of helping me food taste. Texture wise, she said just nice, crispy enough but not too hard.

MC said, she still like the previous non chocolate base version. But since this is a rather big batch, MC and BIL will be forced to take one jar each to work (and then after force their colleagues to try), a small portion for MFG my official guinea pig. And if successful, Carebear to try since she has coffee as her default drinks daily.

Pecan Chocolate Biscotti

I got this recipe from here, with slight variation.

It's not as delicious as my previous almond chocolate chips biscotti. I feel.

I will need my panel taster to advise whether pecan nut is a good idea for biscotti. Cousins said pecan is not nice. But I thought due to the shape of the nuts, they appear really cute on the biscuit giving special designs.

In terms of the method, I've got a few findings:

1) It's very difficult to actually process the chocolate and sugar together if the chocolate is too soft - the mixture is damp and did not mix well with the egg/ flour mixture later (see the darker part on the biscotti? That's what I mean). So, in countries like ours, it's best to chill the chocolate first. Or I feel it's easier to just mix the sugar with the dry ingredient and then grate the dark chocolate into the egg mixture before other ingredients. The dark chocolate would have to be freeze so that it's hard enough to be grated.

2) The temperature is a bit low, I would say 180C is a better temperature at least for the second time baking. With the given temperature and time, the biscotti is not dry enough therefore not crispy.

3) I've not used white chocolate for coating before, it was quite a mess. Perhaps the room temperature was too warm to allow the white chocolate to set and coat the biscotti properly. Besides, the biscuit crumbs will start to contaminate the white chocolate while we start dipping the biscotti in.

I would actually scrap this recipe. Panel tasters agreed or not?

Almond Chocolate Chips Biscotti

This is the "improved" version, and I think final version since so far everyone is happy with it:

Carebear finished hers on her way home (it's a very tiny pack, but at least it was okay to be eaten in one go)

Gave this to my boss as CNY gift and he said it was the best he ever had. Wah... I love this recipe!

Must remember to get feedback from little bro. For sis, her gift pack consist Almond Raisins Biscotti, was too sleepy that night, so didn't take picture of them.

A few notes for myself:

Must fully grease the baking sheet so that I can use the baking sheet to shape the log. If the baking sheet is not greased, the biscotti mixture will be too sticky and will not come off clean from the baking sheet.

This is the improved shape.

Chocolate chips is definately a better idea, the "arrangement" looks more organized.

Must use serrated knife to make life easier.

And for the slicing to look neater.

This thickness should be better, not too thin because the biscuit doesn't contain much if too thin, plus they get burnt easier when baking for the second time.

The chocolate chips when cool, will melt in your mouth when you eat these biscotti.

Almond and Dark Chocolate Biscotti

Made these last weekend, but was too excited with the figure one cake till I didn't post this first. Following my almond and raisins biscotti, I tried out a variation. I personally still prefer the one with raisins, so is MC. But my boss said anything with chocolate is nice. I was also relieved that Carebear didn't mind this less than perfect batch. Thanks!

Improvements to be made will be to even out the almonds and chocolate, especially the chocolates. Some had bigger chunks of chocolates...

... and some are lacking chocolates. Also, I will change from using dark chocolate chunks to dark chocolate chips, so that the chocolates are more uniform looking. These are a bit messy.

One thing to confirm is to have thin slices. Finally, using a serrated knife would really do a much better job. :)

Almond and Raisin Biscotti

In Italian, the word "biscotto" means "biscuit" or "cookie." More specifically, biscotti are named according to their original method of baking. The root words "bis" and "cotto" literally mean "twice" and "baked." When Italians first created biscotti in the region of Tuscany many centuries ago, they were careful to bake the cookies twice, in order to form their unique shape and allow the cookies to develop their signature crisp texture. This second trip to the oven draws off moisture, and results in a crisp, dry texture, and a long shelf life. Over the years, these methods became standard practice. Bakers shape the dough into a log, bake it, evenly slice it into cookies (hopefully without crumbling), and then toast and turn the cookies again until they are perfect. There are many different varieties of biscotti, with some being more cake-like in texture, while some are very crisp and dry.

Traditionally, Biscotti were almond-flavored because almonds were plentiful. Today, you’ll find Biscotti in a myriad of different flavors. Their unique texture makes them perfect to dunk in your morning coffee, afternoon tea, or wine after dinner.

I want a series of biscotti because it's one of the best coffee/ tea companion (so called in preparation for TeaRoom). Also, I've gotten this biscuit and cookies recipe book from Shen, my last year's birthday present, and I've been wanting to try out some recipes. Haven't got any orders this weekend, so good time to carry out some experiments.

The flour was double sifted

An almond and raisin biscotti recipe


Need to fine tune and improve on the "shaping" of the log

After 1st round of baking

Sliced biscuits ready for 2nd round baking

Baked biscotti

I couldn't decide on the thickness of the biscotti when I did the slicing although the recipe said about 1cm. I've tried the ones from Starbucks and they were much thicker and very uniformed in sizes, of course. I was told that biscotti should be relatively thicker and harder so they can "withstand" the dipping in coffee (so they won't break or dissolved into our drinks). After trying a few thickness, yes, I think it should be some how slightly thicker. A thicker piece will also be able to contain the raisins better so we still get some moist and juicy raisins.

I thought perhaps the log should be taller, hence the biscotti will turn out to be bigger pieces, but MC said she prefers these current sizes - because it's small enough and she won't feel too guilty eating one. Haha...

These going out to my usual tasters. Me of course eating them with black coffee in my favorite giant Starbucks mug :).