A few weeks ago when I was having a giveaway on Instagram for reaching my first 100 followers, I asked for people to give suggestions on the blog for things they would like to see. I can’t wait to keep researching all the ideas to come up with recipes to make from these great suggestions. This post is the first recipe that I have made from the new suggestions and it is honestly something I never would have thought to make – biscotti!
My friend Nicole’s suggestion asked for a healthy biscotti recipe. Well….this…kind of fits the bill. This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman blog, but when I looked a little more closely it was actually a guest blog post from Bake at 350. Either way, these biscotti are a delicious combination of coffee and chocolate flavor. The texture is crunchy but delicate, making them delicious either dipped in coffee or eaten on their own. The only way that I can justify that these delicious biscotti fit the “healthy” bill is that they are made without any added fat. There is not butter or oil in this recipe! They are still luxurious and rich tasting and a totally new baking experience for me.
The ingredients are simple for this recipe. 2 3/4 cups AP flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon espresso powder (which I didn’t have so I just used the instant coffee that my mother-in-law leaves at our house for when she visits- sorry Milly), 1 tablespoon vanilla, 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup chocolate chips and turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top.
Before beginning this recipe there are a few set up steps that need to happen. First, move the bottom rack of the oven to the bottom 1/3 of the oven. Then preheat the oven to 325 F degrees and line the largest cookie sheet you have with parchment paper. My largest sheet pan is 21-inches-by-15-inches. It is quite a beast but I LOVE it! It is also helpful to fill a small spray bottle with water now too.
I bought a small one from the travel section at Walgreens a few years ago and just keep it empty with my baking stuff and pull it out when I need it every once in a while.
The ingredient prep is very simple also. The first thing to do is to combine all the dry ingredients. The all purpose flour, the baking powder and the salt. Use a fork to mix all these together and then set them all to the side. Then in a small bowl combine the espresso or instant coffee powder and the vanilla. Give it a good stir so that it all combines together and set off to the side.
Next, in the bowl of your mixmaster fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl that you can use a hand mixer with, combine the three eggs (I put mine out about an hour before baking to come to room temperature but the recipe didn’t call for this), the sugar and the vanilla/coffee mixture. Then turn the mixer almost all the way up, I put mine on 8 and let it go for 3 minutes. You will notice the mixture become lighter in color and thicken as it mixes. Then with the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredient mix to the egg mixture.
Once all the flour is incorporated, add the chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. It will still be really sticky at this point, but don’t worry you are all finished mixing.
Remove the bowl from the mixmaster and use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Smoosh all the dough into one ball in the middle of the bowl. Then divide the ball in half just using your eye to estimate the middle as best as possible.
Use your spatula to scoop each half of the dough out onto the parchment lined baking sheet with some distance between them. Be as careful as possible to place the dough where you would like it the first time. Since it is so sticky, it is hard to move it once it is on the parchment paper. Then cover your hands with water and use them to shape the dough into logs about 4 inches wide and 3/4 inch high. Mine were about 10 inches long. (If forgot to grab a picture but this is when you sprinkle the turbinado sugar all over the tops) Once they are shaped, put the pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 12 1/2 minutes and then take the pan out of the oven and rotate it 180 degrees. Then continue baking for 12 1/2 minutes.
After the total 25 minutes, pull the sheet pan from the oven and allow cookie logs cool on the pan for 10 minutes. While they are cooling, move the bottom rack back to the middle of the oven and allow the oven to come back to temperature at 325 F degrees.
After the 10 minutes, carefully move each log to a cutting board and spray the tops of the loaves with water till they are lightly moistened. This will help the tops from cracking and crumbling when you are slicing through them. Then use a serrated knife to slice the loaf into approximately 3/4 inch slices. Stack each of the slices back on the parchment lined cookie sheet (I reused my same parchment paper from the first bake) on the base of the cookie so that each cookie is standing up.
Put the cookie sheet back into the oven and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until the cookies are mostly dried out and firm. Let the cookies finish cooling on the baking sheet. They will continue to get firm and crispy as they cool.
Final Thoughts:
- It actually took me a couple of days to work of the nerve to bake these because I was pretty nervous about trying to make something completely new, in my new teeny tiny kitchen.
- Now, I can’t believe I waited so long because biscotti is delicious and pretty simple to make!
- I love this flavor combination, why have I not done more in the world of mocha?
- I was thinking about all these other flavor combinations that I could make with biscotti and throwing the ideas out to Kevin and he goes – Um…nope..just mocha chip!
- Do you have a favorite biscotti recipe to share with me?
Recipe – Mocha Chip Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee or espresso powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Move the bottom oven rack to the bottom 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees. Line the biggest baking sheet you have with parchment paper. Fill a small spray bottle with water.
- In a bowl mix together 2 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl mix together 1 tablespoon instant coffee and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with an electric mixer combine 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar and coffee/vanilla mixture. Turn the speed up high (8) and whip for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture becomes light in color and thick.
- With the mixing speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixture until the last streaks of flour disappear. The mixture will be sticky.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Using a spatula, scrape the sides & bottom of the mixing bowl and form the dough into a large ball. Divide the dough in half and carefully place half on one end of the lined baking sheet and the other half on the other side.
- Wet your hands generously and shape the dough into 4-inch wide by 3/4-inch tall logs (about 10-inches long). Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the logs and place them on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Bake for 12 1/2 minutes then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 12 1/2 minutes.
- Pull the sheet pan out of the oven and allow the logs to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes. While they are cooling, move the bottom oven rack to the middle of the oven.
- Carefully move each log to a cutting board and spray the tops with water until they are moist. Using a serrated knife, slice each log into 3/4-inch slices. Place each slices back on the parchment lined baking sheet standing up.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 325 in the middle position in the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet.
- Cookies can be stored at room temperature in a container. If the cookies get soft they can be re-crisped in a 300 F degree oven for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from a Bake at 350 guest post on The Pioneer Woman
