Double Chocolate Biscotti

Hello everyone! I must first apologize for being so absent the past month or so.  Life got a little ahead of me...and all of a sudden its the 2nd of November and I don't know where most of October went!  But I went on a cooking spree yesterday, and have plenty of raw material for posts and I'll be back with more tasties more frequently--that's my goal!

I rummaged around through all of my cookbooks for some good treats, and found some good ones in the old plaid stand-by.  That is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  The very first cookbook I ever owned.  I've been caught up recently in the celebrity chefs, restaurants, fanciness of the Food Network recently, that I've forgotten my "roots" as it were.  This is the very first cookbook I can remember seeing. My mom still has it in her pantry with her cookbooks, too!

So I randomly flipped to the Cookie tab (OK, maybe not randomly.  I really wanted to make some cookies).  This recipe sounded fantastic to me and I figured it would travel well, since (most of) the cookies will be headed to Afghanistan for my brother's enjoyment.

These turned out really well, nice and crispy, and chocolate-y.  I've never been successful with biscotti before, but I think it was because I had a bad recipe.  I didn't realize that these actually get baked twice: once as a loaf and once as slices to crisp up.  They are great with a cup of coffee, and standup well to being dunked.  I hope you all enjoy them with a nice hot cup o' Joe!


Double Chocolate Chunk Biscotti
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
printable version

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces white chocolate chips
3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder; beat until combined. Beat in eggs. Beat in as much flour as you can. Slowly.  You don't want a huge cloud of flour in your kitchen. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a (not entirely appetizing-looking) 9-inch-long roll. Place rolls 4 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet; flatten rolls slightly to 2 inches wide.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet on a wire rack for 1 hour. Using a serrated knife, cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Lay slice, one cut side down, on an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake slices in a 325 degree F oven for 8 minutes. Turn slices over and bake 7 to 9 minutes more or until slices are dry and crisp. (Do not overbake.) Transfer to a wire rack; cool.