Chocolate Dipped Cardamom Biscotti
This is a fabulous twist on the more common anise biscotti. The cardamom gives the cookie an exotic taste and matches perfectly with the chocolate. It goes great with coffee, tea, or even ice cream. You can eat it for breakfast, as a dessert, or even a mid-afternoon snack.
I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's but increased the cardamom and added the chocolate to give it more of a kick. Some may be intimidated to make biscotti but I think you will find that they are actually very easy to do. You don't even need an electric mixer. Give these a try for your next dinner party and watch your friends be impressed!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup AP flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup blanched almonds, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 oz chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips)
Instructions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and sugar. Using a whisk, mix ingredients together so there are no lumps in the flour and everything is incorporated. Add the almonds to the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Using a spatula, fold egg mixture into the dry ingredients until it forms a dough. On a parchment lined sheet pan form dough into a long flat log, about 2 inch X 10 inch.
The Biscotti's first bake
Place in the top third of the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until crispy on top but still soft in the center. Let cool for 10 minutes. Using a long serrated knife cut into 1 inch slices on a slight diagonal. Lay slices back onto the sheet pan and bake 7-8 minutes. Turn biscotti and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes. Let biscotti cool for 10 minutes before dipping in chocolate.
Slice and bake again
Melt chocolate in a glass bowl using either a microwave or a double boiler. In a microwave, heat for 1 minute, then stir with a heatproof spatula and heat for an additional 30 seconds. Dip cooled biscotti cookies into the chocolate halfway down and place on parchment/wax paper to dry. Once chocolate has hardened serve or store in airtight container.
Dip Biscotti in Chocolate
Makes 20-30 cookies.
