Chocolate Biscotti with a Twist!

Hey everyone! This time our class explored the wonders of biscotti! Biscotti is quite similar in ingredients to bread, however, the technique used to incorporate everything result in a completely different outcome. The difference here is that the dough is more wet than usual, and we try not to mix the dough and develop too much gluten, giving it a nice snap to it once it’s been baked twice. Though I wasn’t there to decide on the flavours, my partner designed an amazing recipe for us! We made a delicious chocolate, coconut, and peanut biscotti. Biscotti is one of those easily adaptable recipes that everyone should learn to make. It’s so simple and helps to get rid of any random ingredients you have leftover at home! Now making this dish is quite simple, depending on your flavours you put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and put the wet in another then combine them. Add the extra toppings to the dough then incorporate and pour into a baking pan. The most difficult thing for this recipe is knowing when to add more flour, water, or to stop stirring. We really had to practice how to feel out the right texture for the dough, this was especially difficult for me as I’ve never seen or felt the dough before. That being said, the dough texture should feel wet but not stick to your hands, it should be able to hold its shape but still move a little, and it should be spaced out well because they do spread in the oven. It’s important to get that dough consistency right otherwise you will be left adding more flour or water, and stirring constantly developing gluten, creating a chewy, difficult to eat biscotti. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way, the dough was too tough and that was a result of over-mixing. Once they are done the first round of baking, it’s important to cut them into even slices or they won’t dry out evenly. If you place some thicker than others in the oven at the same time, they will take forever to dry out while the thin ones will be burning. 

Recipe

Ingredients:

- 2 Cups - Flour

- 1/2 Cup - Cocoa powder

- 3 Teaspoons - Baking Powder

- 1 Cup - Sugar

- 1/3 Cup - Brown Sugar

- 1/2 Cup - Dried Coconut

- 1/2 Cup - Peanuts

- 1/2 Cup - Water

- 3 Tbsp - Oil

- 3 Eggs

- 2 Teaspoons - Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients

2. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients

3. Create a well in the dry ingredients then pour wet ingredients in

4. Once incorporated (try not to over-mix) divide onto baking sheets

5. Bake at 350 C for 30-35 min

6. Take out of the oven and let cool, then slice into 1/2 inch slices

7. Place back onto baking tray and bake for another 10-15 min