Bill had asked me to make some biscotti for a colleague (long story), so I did that earlier in the week. Bill had requested almond biscotti with white chocolate chips, so I made that, it came out fine, etc.
But I'm not really a huge fan of white chocolate, though I used it and liked it in the Lemon Biscotti with Candied Ginger and White Chocolate Chips that I made a while back.
I wanted real chocolate. Dark chocolate.
So at first I'd planned to make biscotti with almonds, coconut, and chocolate chips. Only I didn't have chocolate chips. I'd used them up in another batch of recent cookies, and I'd forgotten (horrors) to buy more. I didn't want to go to the store, so I poked around in the cupboards to see what other chocolate I might have. There was a bit of Easter candy left, but not enough.
And there was a small package of Hershey's Bliss on the top shelf. Dark chocolate. I'd bought that and hid it way up high so - yes - I wouldn't have to share it. I admit it. But really, these children smell food from miles away if I selfishly decide to have, oh, breakfast, and they come running (Julia, mainly) and ask for a bite. Which turns into, sometimes, me just sliding my plate to her and fixing two more measly eggs over easy and toast for myself. So I bought the one little bag of dark chocolate and put it where they wouldn't see it. Alex, incidentally, has no interest in eggs, but he does like dark chocolate. And naturally, Alex is the one who found it. He'd pulled a chair over the same day I bought the candy, and he was searching for something to eat, and he found my stash.
Anyway. There were enough of the Bliss candies left to use in the biscotti AND leave a few to spare. So I unwrapped twenty of them, cut them into little triangles, and added them to my coconut and almonds.
Here's the whole ingredient list for you:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided (one half cup, and one half plus 2 T)
3 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole raw almonds
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
20 Hershey's Bliss dark chocolate pieces, cut into quarters
Sparkling sugar (optional)
And here's what you do....
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Position the racks in your oven so they divide the interior of the oven into thirds.
Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a bowl and whisk together well. Set aside.
Beat together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar until they are light yellow and very fluffy.
Add egg yolks, one at a time, to butter/sugar mixture, scraping the bowl down in between additions. Add almond extract and vanilla to butter/sugar/eggs and combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together on lowest setting until just combined. The mixture will be dry and crumbly.
Scrape this mixture out into a large, wide bowl and set aside.
Thoroughly clean and dry the bowl of your stand mixer (if that's what you're using) and pour in the egg whites. Using the whip attachment, start whipping the whites on high speed until they start to increase in volume and get very frothy. Slowly pour in the remaining sugar (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) while the mixer is running. The whites will thicken and become opaque and shiny. Whip until the peaks are just firm, but don't dry out the meringue.
Scrape the beaten egg whites into the big bowl where you've got the crumbly mixture.
Quickly and gently fold the whites into the dry mixture until mostly combined. Add the almonds, coconut and chocolate pieces and continue folding until the add-ins are completely mixed in.
Divide the dough in half and form a log with each half on each of your parchment lined baking sheets. Dip your hands in water so the dough doesn't stick to them, and gently press the logs down so they're about half an inch thick. Sprinkle with the sparkling sugar if desired.
Place the pans in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just firm. Alternate pans and rotate them about halfway through the baking. Reduce the oven temp to 300 degrees F.
Take the pans out of the oven and let them cool about 5-10 minutes. Gently move each flattened log to a cutting board and slice into half-inch wide pieces. Place these back on the baking sheets, cut side down, and pop them back in the oven for about ten minutes. Pull the pans out, flip all the biscotti over, rotate the pans and bake for another ten to fifteen minutes.
Remove the pans from the oven and let the biscotti cool on the pans.
Oh, and let me tell you, these are yummy. 4 out of 4 members of my family loved them.
Enjoy!
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