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.

Cookies for the troops!

My brother left for Afghanistan about 3 weeks ago.  He's in the Marine Corps and will be there about 6 more months. I've been wracking my brain to figure out what sort of care package to send to him (and the guys he's with) that would bring smiles to their faces.   That's when it hit me.  Since I'm living overseas with the military, it should be fairly easy to send him some treats that will still be good in the time it takes to get to him...

I was pleasantly surprised when I got a note from him yesterday saying he had already gotten the package...it was only a week! That means, as long as I can find recipes for treats that can travel well, he'll be getting more.  The other great part of this, is I can enjoy making tons of cookies, blog about them, and I don't have dozens of cookies sitting around the house begging me to eat them!  So, Brother (and your guys), these (as well as my thoughts and prayers for a safe return) go out to you, and expect more!

These cookies actually turned out oh so tasty.  They are a chocolate cookie with both white and dark chocolate chips.  I think adding walnuts or pecans would be a good addition, too.  Or maybe even macadamia nuts.  Now I'm just brainstorming.  Anyway, without any further ado, here are the cookies...

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2009

Makes 28 large cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks
12 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa, baking soda and salt.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the sugars at a medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until incorporated.  At low speed, beat in the chocolate chunks until they are evenly distributed.  This batter will be very thick.
3. Scoop eight 1/4 cup mounds of batter onto each of the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 3" between them.  Flatten the mounds into 2" rounds.  Bake on the lower and middle racks of the oven for 20 minutes, until the cookies rise and then flatten slightly; switch the cookie sheets half way thru cooking.  Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then slide the parchment paper onto racks and let the cookies cool completely.  Line the cookie sheets with fresh parchment and repeat to make the remaining cookies.