beXnlog

Bibiscotti

I'm going crazy and eating 5-10 biscotti per day. This is what happens when you bake your own and suddenly have 60 pieces instead of a tiny container that cost $4.00 from the store. Well, except in my case the count was closer to 120 since i made two batches in one week. I gave a lot away, brought some to work and shared it amongst 3 offices, and even saved a few pieces for be!

I had never made any biscotti before, so in my research i found that biscotti is divided into two types: with butter and without butter. Traditionally, biscotti is made without butter, resulting in a crunchier, harder cookie. The ones containing butter make a crumblier, softer cookie. I used this recipe and followed it closely, except that i cut my slices 1/2" thick instead of 3/4". I also couldn't find Dutch-processed cocoa so i used regular, and instead of instant espresso powder i used regular espresso grounds.

The first batch was insanely delicious. I love crunchy cookies and these were perfectly nutty, roasty and chocolatey. The chocolate flavor was from the cocoa as well as ground up bittersweet chocolate, but i missed having actual chocolate chunks. For the second batch, i did the same as the first except i added an additional cup of chocolate mini chunks to the batter. As you can see in the biscotti to the right, the second batch ended up darker and denser. The chunks were too small to affect the crunch or texture of the batch, but it did affect the flavor immensely - much more roasty and toasty, with a stronger espresso-like flavor.

Next up, i'll try the same recipe but with larger chocolate chunks, settle on a good lavender citrus biscotti recipe, and perhaps try a regular plain almond one. Some people are stupidly hilarious; recipe comment sections occasionally contain a complaint about the cookies being "too hard" and "not sweet enough," when that's the whole point of biscotti!

posted by beXn @ 10:58 AM