Biscotti are easy to make and delicious with a cup of tea, coffee or milk any time of the day. Our cookie jar in the coffee lounge is always filled with cookies or biscotti and this recipe gets a lot of requests.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (100 grams) peeled hazelnuts
- 2 cups (260 grams) all-purposeflour
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl whisk together the espresso or coffee, milk, egg and vanilla extract.
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices until combined. Gradually add the espresso mixture and beat until a dough forms, adding the chopped nuts and chocolate chips about halfway through. With floured hands divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half of dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1.5″ inches wide. Transfer the logs to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for about 35 minutes or until firm to the touch (logs will spread during baking). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. On a cutting board cut the logs crosswise on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes or until they are pale golden. I personally like my biscotti a little softer than is the tradion. If you like yours real crunchy you can cook the sliced biscotti on each side for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Optional: Die hard chocolate lovers can melt good bitter sweet chocolate over the logs as they are cooling and before slicing.
Makes about 36 biscotti.
I TRY to keep our cookie jar full and I have a few go to recipes that I use to make sure our guests with cookie cravings in the middle of the night have somewhere to go. When I know I have a gluten free guest checking in to the Scranton Seahorse Inn my peanut butter cookie recipe the one I use. It is so ridiculously simple but so nutty and delicious. They are so satisfying at midnight with a cup of coffee or tea too.
