Cookies | Italian Inspired Recipes | Chocolate | Hazelnuts
Chocolate and hazelnuts are perfect pair in these crunchy biscotti. Follow our proven recipe and bake at home these amazing Italian cookies flavoured with a touch of cardamom.
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Chocolate and hazelnuts are perfect partners and you will find that these biscotti are no exception. Just, they have a hint of cardamom to make them super special.
The biscotti are rich and chocolatey and of course with the satisfying crunch that biscotti delivers. Toasted hazelnuts are a great way to add a bit of crunch to the recipe. Find below more about these traditional Italian cookies and how to make them at home.
The term "biscotti" comes from the Latin word bis coctus, meaning "twice baked". The biscotti is first baked in a log, then sliced and baked again.
This double process makes the cookies dry and crunchy, and ideal for dipping in coffee, tea, hot cocoa, dessert wine or liqueur. Biscotti are ideal to bake ahead as they keep well for weeks.
Although, biscotti is traditionally with almonds, these days you can find a huge variety of flavours. We love our classic biscotti with almonds, chocolate version with almonds and gluten-free with almond flour.
If you've never made biscotti before it may seem complicated, but you will be surprised at how easy biscotti it to make. The dough is very much like a cookie dough. The difference is that you form two large logs from the dough, then bake them, slice and bake again. Super easy!
We use three eggs in biscotti. The eggs have two jobs: structure and texture. They help the biscotti keep its shape and keep the biscotti from tasting too dry. We love all flavours in these biscotti.
The most important are TOASTED HAZELNUTS which adds great flavour. Make sure you toast them: that's where all the flavour comes from. This recipe features DEMERARA SUGAR to sweeten the biscotti. It's caramel flavour and crunchy texture are ideal for making these biscotti delicious. Instead of demerara sugar, you can use any other coarse brown sugar or even granulated sugar.
Making the dough for these chocolate biscotti is so easy and quick. In one bowl combine all dry ingredients - PLAIN and ALMOND flours, BAKING POWDER, COCOA POWDER, DARK CHOCOLATE (finely ground), SUGAR, GROUND CARDAMOM, SALT and GRATED ORANGE ZEST.
In another bowl whisk EGGS then pour into dry ingredients and stir with a fork until the flour in incorporated. Fold in chopped hazelnuts and work with your hands until you get a compact slightly sticky dough.
Halve dough and place on baking sheet lined with baking paper. Shape each half into a 5cm x 25cm log. Bake logs about 20 minutes or until they harden a bit. Remove from the oven and cool logs for about 5 minutes, then using serrated knife, cut each log diagonally into 1.5cm slices.
Place slices back on the sheet and bake for another 10 minutes, then turn and bake for another 10 minutes or until dry and crisp. If you prefer softer biscotti you can skip the second step and leave them softer.
To keep the biscotti crisp, store them in a glass cookie jar at room temperature. If they should lose their crispness, simply toast them in the oven for a few minutes on 150°C (300°F).
Chocolate Hazelnut BiscottiMAKES: 28 biscotti |
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