Dark Chocolate-Dipped, Orange-Almond Biscotti
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Cookie-overload time. I don’t know about you guys, but I was raised knowing that Christmas time meant a copious amount of homemade Italian cookies (probably why I was such a chub as a kid, but c’mon… there’s a little cookie monster inside us all).
Some friends of mine hosted a Christmas Party last weekend so I decided to whip up these dark chocolate-dipped orange almond biscotti I stumbled across over at Elissa’s 17 and Baking.
I was absolutely terrified through the entire process. I’ve never made Biscotti before and I feel like it’s something every Italian should know… and should never botch. The first bake went surprisingly well and the second mini double-bakes were even better!
I think the highlight was finally making it to the chocolate-dipping process.
It’s these little things that get me pumped for the holidays… the aroma of orange mixed with those freshly toasted almonds. Needless to say, they were a big hit and I’ll be adding these to the regular baking rotation.
Oh and while these were cooling to dip into their glorious dark chocolate baths, I decided to make some gingerbread men, snowflakes and snaps for Billy’s half birthday.
Anyway, recipe is after the jump!
Chocolate-Dipped Almond-Orange Biscotti
Adapted from Bon Appetit via Smitten Kitchen
Makes 3-4 dozen biscotti
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup whole almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped or sliced almonds (optional)
1 large egg white
Tiny drop of almond extract (optional)
6 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Mix sugar, melted butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract, orange liqueur and zest in large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended. Mix in almonds.
Divide dough in half. Using floured hands, shape each dough half into 13 1/2-inch-long, 2 1/2-inch-wide log. Transfer both logs to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Whisk egg white in small bowl until foamy; brush over top and sides of each dough log.
Bake logs until golden brown (logs will spread), about 30 minutes. Cool logs completely on sheet on rack, about 25 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.
Transfer logs to work surface; discard parchment paper. Using serrated knife, cut logs on diagonal into 1/2-inch-wide slices. Arrange slices, cut side down, on same baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Turn biscotti over; bake until just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.
Once cool, melt the 6 oz of chocolate in a double boiler – set the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted. Stir in a small drop of almond extract. Dip the biscotti into the chocolate and leave to dry on a cooling rack. Biscotti will keep a week or more in an airtight container at room temperature.
