Cappuccino Biscotti

Hello friends!

Twas' a dark and stormy past few days here in Tampa. Tropical Storm Debbie was making a mess of things, and what else is a girl to do with pouring rain and high velocity winds than curl up with a good book, cup of coffee, and a nice, crisp, crunchy Biscotti.

For any of you that have noticed that I avoid said twice-baked cookie, it's because I have had less than stellar encounters with it. A cookie dough so sticky will not leave your hands combined with my colossal fear of burning cookies, the idea of baking until it is dry just somehow leaves me unimpressed.

But the house was dark, the storm clouds a permanenent fixture over my home, and I suddenly felt the need for a cookie I could dip in my coffee while reading a Victorian murder-mystery novel. Yes. I am that nerdy. British Fiction has some amazing murder-mystery novels that are perfect for being stuck inside all day. In case you're curious I recommend Lady Audley's Secret and The Woman in White. You will not be able to put them down; I promise.

Now back to cookies. Start with your dry ingredients:

and cut in the cold butter. Mix until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Now you can do this with a pastry cutter, or two knives, but I personally prefer using a pair of clean washed fingers. Just move quickly so that the heat from your hands doesn't cause the butter to melt.

Next, add the eggs and chocolate chips and mix until the dough is just moistened. It will look a little dry still, but that's okay. Trust me in a moment it will be a sticky mess all over the counter and you will wish it was even close to that crumbly mixture you had a moment ago.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and (with floured hands) knead 8 or 9 times until the dough is uniform. Shape into 2 logs and transfer to a parchment lined, or heavily greased baking pan. If you do not have parchment paper, I suggest putting another baking sheet under the one that is holding the dough, so as to ensure that the bottom doesn't bake too quickly.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough seems dry and solid to the touch. Do not turn off the oven; but let the dough cool for 10 minutes or until you can handle it easily without burning yourself. Slice the dough, on the diagonal, and place the cookies, cut side up, back on the cookie sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for an additional 8 minutes.

And we have Biscotti! The result was a little murky there for awhile (much like our weather of late) but I now have some delicious, crispy cookies, full of chocolate chips and a slight hint of coffee to enjoy with my books and a big comfy chair that I do not plan on leaving until I find out who killed whom in my novel.

Happy Baking!

Cappuccino Biscotti Slightly Adapted Via Crumb

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp instant coffee
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter, sliced
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
3 eggs, lightly beaten

egg wash (1 egg + 2 tbsp milk, lightly beaten together)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine first 7 ingredients. Add in slices of butter and using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut in until mixutre resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add in eggs and chocolate chips and mix until just moistened. Mixture will still look crumbly; that is okay.
4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead 8 or 9 times until dough is uniform in texture. It will be very sticky; that is okay. Split dough in half and form into 2 9-inch logs
5. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheets, brush with egg wash, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until dough feels firm and dry.
6. Do not turn off oven; let logs cool for 10 minutes or until easy to handle.
7. Slice logs, on the diagonal, into cookies and place back on baking sheets. Bake for 8 minutes on one side, flip, then bake again for an additional 8 minutes or until dry in center. Let cool then store in airtight container.

Battle Biscotti

As the name implies, this was a bit of a frustrating (but equally satisfying) baking experience. So it's one of my mom's friend's birthdays this week, and he absolutely loves biscotti. Naturally my mom suggests I should bake them for him, since it would be a good experience for me (good really means hair-wrenching I think). I've never made twice-baked cookies, so I figured why not?

Well, I can now name a few reasons why not. Really though, they were silly mistakes on my part. If you want to try out biscotti, please don't be intimidated by my frustrating experience.

First exasperating moment of the day: me forgetting that the food processor with the dough blade has an actual sharp blade in it as I go to pull out the dough and cut my finger open >_< . However, since my finger was still intact, I just slapped on a band aid and kept going.

Second exasperating moment of the day: this dough is THICK, and by thick I mean the most viscous substance I have ever worked with in the kitchen, Imagine the heaviest cookie dough mixed with the thickest gooey cake batter, and that's biscotti dough. I had to add an extra 1/4 cup flour just to make it come off my hands. Seriously, I could hold in in my hand and turn it over, and it would not fall off. The ensuing mess in the kitchen was not pretty. I actually had to stop taking photos after this one because I couldn't separate my fingers from the dough.

Final moment (and the most frustrating) - no one told me you couldn't substitute wax paper for parchment paper. What is even the point of wax paper then? If you can see where this is going, I used wax paper to line the baking sheet, and almost burned the house down. Mom was not happy.

BUT: I refused to lose this ensuing battle with the dreaded biscotti. So, my brother (the only defender of my baking blunders) offered to pick up parchment paper so that I could make a second attempt.

And would you look at that - we actually got something that looks somewhat like biscotti loaves! Ah, what a relief. But the battle was not yet won. The infamous cutting portion of the recipe was at hand, and all I could think about what my now beautiful cookie loaves crumbling under the blade of my knife.

Drumroll please...

Take that biscotti! I am the baker and I will not bend to your crumbly will. (Okay I promise that is the last lame comment I will make for the day. But this cookie made me feisty and I had to vent somewhere. I only have 2 followers anyway so it's not like it matters.)

I hope you all enjoyed reading my trials and tribulations, but I also hope it does not deter anyone from trying this recipe from DeliciousInspiration for Basic Biscotti. It really is worth it; they're awesome and look so impressive as a gift!

Basic Biscotti - Via DeliciousInspiration

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour (might need 1/4 cup more flour to make dough workable)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (my personal preference)


1. Sift together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
2. Whisk together oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.
3. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients until it forms a stiff (and I mean really stiff) dough. Stir in any add ins.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and split the dough in half.
5. Form 2 logs the length of the baking sheet and flatten slightly.
6. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown
7. Let cool 30 minutes
8. Slice into 1/4 inch thick cookies, place back on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
9. Let cool completely.