Whole-Wheat Chocolate-Almond Biscotti (with Orange Zest!)
Posted by twopeaskitchen on February 2, 2009
Honestly, the only way to motivate myself into doing schoolwork is to bake. I’ve been reasonably productive over the weekend, but I really need to do some honest-to-goodness studying this afternoon. The only thing keeping me from baking prolific amounts of muffins, cookies, and cupcakes right now is the fact that I have plans to bake tomorrow for Rebecca’s small group as well. So I decided to keep it quick (I do have studying to do, you know!) and simple.
Hello, biscotti. Ever since Amanda made her raisin biscotti back in December, I’ve been dying to give it a try. Now seems like the perfect opportunity, don’t you think? Yes, I agree. Not wanting to frustrate myself with cutting in butter, I opted to use the same Martha Stewart recipe that Amanda did as it, thankfully, requires none.
For my batch, I stood catatonic in the kitchen for a solid three minutes debating whether I wanted to use dried cherries (love!) or chocolate chips (how is a girl to decide!)… and eventually surrendered to my chocolate craving. (Honestly, if I had remembered to buy craisins at the grocery store this morning, I would have used those.) Then I decided I should at least attempt to be somewhat healthy about this endeavor and threw in some almond slices that have been in my pantry for a while now. But it needed something else– orange zest. Perfect.
These turned out nicely, and I am quite pleased with my first ever batch of biscotti. The orange zest ties it together very well; I think they would be far too bland without it. As it is, they are a wonderful (almost) guilt-free way to assuage my crazy chocolate cravings, and will be wonderful with a cup of coffee in the morning.
Whole-Wheat Chocolate-Almond Biscotti
(recipe adapted from marthastewart.com)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour blend
scant 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup almond slices
zest of one orange, approx 1 teaspoon
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven 350. Combine ingredients through orange zest in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Add into flour mixture; stir until just combined.
On a lightly floured surface and with floured hands, shape dough into log about 1 inch thick and 2-3 inches wide. Place onto greased baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Drop oven temperature to 300. When biscotti has cooled, slice the log diagonally and place pieces back onto baking sheet. Return to oven for 25-30 minutes, turning once.
