September Punch - Chocolate-almond Biscotti

It is well past that time of the month. I am very late in posting this month's sweetpunch. Well, no excuses. I made this once a week after the recipe was announced. The first time, it was over baked and I had trouble cutting it in thin strips. I rectified that mistake and baked it a couple of weeks back and they turned out ok. But it was a crazy evening at home and I had no time to click good pictures :(. Here is the one that I managed to take. It took me so long to post this. It has been a crazy month on the whole :)...

Recipe adapted from joyofbaking.com

Chocolate Almond Biscotti Recipe:

3/4 cup (110 grams) blanched whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely

2/3 cup (135 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powde

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups (225 grams) all-purpose flour

4 ounces (110 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped in 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) pieces (can use chocolate chips)

Chocolate Almond Biscotti: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).  Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.  Let cool and then chop coarsely.  Set aside. I microwaved for 3-4 minutes, rearranging after a couple of minutes.


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).  (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.)  At this point beat in the vanilla extract.   In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined.  Fold in the chopped almonds and chocolate.

Transfer the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12 inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide.  I divided the dough into two parts. I made two logs, approximately 9 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. I baked them on two different baking sheets.

You may have to dampen your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. I baked only for 15 minutes. I preheated the oven to 170 degrees C.

 Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. 

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).  Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into 3/4 inch (2 cm) slices, on the diagonal.  Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 16 biscotti.

Verdict: I need to fine tune this recipe further. Thought it tasted very good, the log crumbled a bit while I was trying to cut it. With Biscottis the looks matter a lot too. So I am planning to bake this again to get it right.