If It Doesn’t Involve Yeast, I Can Do It

I like to bake.

(And as long as it doesn’t involve yeast I’m pretty good at it. LOL)

I wanted to do a tutorial on the best Chocolate Biscotti recipe I’ve ever found, but of course, as soon as I start measuring and mixing, I forget to take the pictures!

So I guess I’ll just share the recipe and pictures of the finished product!

(Too bad they haven’t invented ‘smell-a-blog’, ‘cuz the house smells yummy!)

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Preheat oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position

1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks)

1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 ½ cups brown sugar

5 large eggs beaten (Just whip them up in a glass with a fork)

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup slivered almonds

6 cups flour (not sifted)

Melt butter and mix in the cocoa. Add the brown sugar. Let cool slightly, and then stir in the beaten eggs. Add the soda, salt, vanilla, and slivered almonds. Stir until well blended. Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Spray two cookies sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the dough into five parts, forming each part into a free-form loaf, 1 inch high, 7 to 8 inches long, and 3 to 4 inches wide. Place 2 loaves on one cookie sheet and 3 loaves on the other. Bake the loaves at 350° F for 35 minutes.

Cool the loaves on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, but DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack and cool for another 5 minutes. Slice them (just like bread) into ¾ inch-thick pieces with a sharp knife. (The end pieces don’t need more baking---save them to dunk into your coffee while the rest are baking.)

Place the slices on their cut sides on the greased cookie sheets. Bake the slices for an additional 5 minutes, flip the over to expose the other cut side, and bake them for an additional 10 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to complete cooling.

These are great dunking cookies.

Yield: Approximately 4 dozen, depending on cookie size.

**I got this recipe from a mystery novel I once read but I don’t remember the author’s name so I can’t give the correct credit.