December ABC challenge: chocolate almond biscotti

Last recipe for this source. I just got back into town after 7 months away and most of my kitchen is still packed up, but I knew I could pull these together with what I had.  I decided to leave out the chocolate chips because 1) I didn't want chocolately dessert cookies and 2) I couldn't find them (even though I have loads.)  I also didn't use "quality" cocoa--- I used Hershey's, which is what was in the cupboard.  (I couldn't find anything better in the stores anyway.)  I also reduced the recipe to 1/3; thankfully measures were given in grams, because most of my measuring items are still packed but the scale wasn't.  Nonetheless, I still had some things off:  my egg was a jumbo, which I tried to reduce a bit, and I couldn't measure the baking soda to the tenth of a gram so I had to guesstimate.  The resultant batter was quite thin, so I added another tablespoon of flour.  (Should have added cocoa instead.)  Even still, there was no way I could roll it into a log, but I've dealt with sloppy biscotti batter before and just spooned it into heaps on the baking tray then smoothed it out with the back of a wet spoon.  It worked.

Here's what I used. Changes to the 1/3 quantities are in italics and strikeout:

47g flour
46g whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 (approx.) teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 jumbo egg*, at room temperature
67g sugar
1/3 teaspoon (approx.) vanilla extract
1/6 teaspoon (approx.) almond extract
42g almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon (approx.) unwashed coarse sugar

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg.  *Remove 2/3 - 1 tablespoon and set aside for the wash.  Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a medium bowl, beat together the remaining egg, sugar, and vanilla & almond extracts. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, then mix in the nuts (and the chocolate chips if using) until the dough holds together.  

This is after adding more flour.  Still sticky.

 
Lightly grease a baking sheet.  Dollop the batter onto the sheet into a "log" about 12" long.  Smooth and shape with the back of a wet spoon so it's about 3" wide.  Brush the top of the log liberally with the egg (you might not use it all) and sprinkle with the coarse sugar.  Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, until the dough feels firm to the touch.  Remove from the oven and cool 15 minutes.

On a cutting board, use a serrated bread knife to diagonally cut the cookies into 1/2-inche slices. Lay the cookies cut side down on baking sheets and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.






Note: I stood the biscotti upright during the second baking so they'd dry evenly. After about 15-20 minutes, they smelled like they were burning and were quite hard, so I took them out. I think I had too much baking soda, which could have caused them to rise more and therefore bake and dry faster.  Or perhaps it was standing them up.  But 20-30 minutes (the time called for in the original recipe) seems like a really long time for such thin cookies anyway.

Conclusion:   I wasn't impressed. I didn't expect to be, as I think it's pretty hard to make biscotti that have an appreciable chocolate flavor. It really comes from the chips or coating, so why bother? However, they were tasty dipped into this...

Recipe:  Chocolate Biscotti via David Lebovitz