Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Biscotti! One cookie that one can never go wrong with dipping in a nice cup of dark coffee. Well actually it would be a biscuit I believe or maybe a coffee bread. A twice baked one at that. Well whatever they call it, its delicious and I needed one asap.  

I usually stick to simple almond biscotti which I'm sure will come up in future recipes not about chocolate. Future just seemed so far away and so I went ahead and threw some nice dark chocolate in that mix to enjoy that crunchy goodness in the present. 

So start brewing that coffee and enjoy!

Prep: 30 - 35 minutes

Bake: 35 to 45 minutes

Cool: 10 minutes

Yield: 24 cookies

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

3/4 cup almonds

 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (May want to scroll down to Sweet Flukes before adding)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons of coffee granules

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and toast almonds on cookie sheet for about 5-8 minutes. Chop almonds and put aside.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In large bowl beat eggs on medium for about 30 seconds. 

3.Add in sugar 1/4 cup at time beating on medium. Add in vanilla and almond extract. Beat on medium to high until mixture thickens. On medium beat in flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until dough becomes stiff.

4. (Warning: Hope you don't mind sticky chocolate hands) Divide the dough in half. On a buttered cookie sheet form two 12 inch logs 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until firm when touched.

5. Transfer to a cutting board. Reduce oven to 325°F while biscotti cools for 10 -15 minutes. Cut the logs diagonally into 1 inch slices.

6. Arrange slices cut side down on cookie sheet or sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes or until toasted. Transfer to cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Sweet Flukes

Based on my side note I'm sure you guessed brown sugar was not part of the original recipe. I felt like improvising and I think it may have thrown off the baking time. Brown sugar not only adds a nice maple flavor but also adds to a cookie's chewiness. Which I realized later how senseless that little addition was since biscotti is the complete opposite of chewy. Well this little idea of mine added like 40 minutes baking time. Those darn biscuits wouldn't twice-bake. I ended up with slightly chewy centers and crispy edges. Good thing is they're still pretty darn good when dipped in coffee.