Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Not much going on here on the farm. We did get in a second cutting of grass hay. We also cut a lot more acreage, so even though the grass wasn't as high as the first cutting, we still got about the same number of hay bales. We hope to clear more land for more hay, but it is labor intensive. I work full time and Lee works part time, so it may take another year to bring more land into production.

Next week I am driving the Bookmobile for Monday and Tuesday and we are participating in a cleanup for the county along the Upper James River, so I will finally have something to say and not have to rely on my recipes. (Here is the segue to the aforementioned Biscottis!)

I told Doris I was thinking about almond biscottis. Tara had made some the other day and it inspired me. Doris Googled around on the Internet and found some recipes that she gave to me to pick from. I kind of took 1 from column A and 2 from column B and here is what we have.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sliced almonds

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening

Preheat the oven to 350. The butter was not soft and it was cold and rainy so I unwrapped a stick of butter and put it on a plate in the microwave for about 8 seconds....I figure if that is good enough for a Krispy Kreme, that is good enough for butter. Then I put it in the mixer and ran it on slow. When it was smooth I added the sugar. I had to run it on medium for awhile, I think because it was kind of cold. Then I added the 2 eggs and the almond extract and mixed it up. The recipe calls for sifting all the dry ingredients together and then adding them to the butter. You can do that if you want or do as I did and just add them a cup or so at a time and mix slowly.




I repeat, mix S-L-O-W-L-Y. If you don't, the flour will go everywhere!






Then add the almonds. I didn't have enough sliced almonds, so I added some toasted whole almonds that I then chopped coarsely. I thought they would add an extra crunch. One that even dunking it into a hot cup of coffee won't soften!




Divide the dough in half and dump it out onto a lightly floured board. Roll it into a log and then transfer it to a Silpat on a cookie sheet or a greased cookie sheet. Flatten it until it is about 11 inches long and 3 inches wide. Then do the other one. They will spread out so keep them apart as much as possible. Bake for 30 minutes.




Then remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer each log to a cutting board and gently cut them with a serrated knife on the diagonal about 1 inch apart. Reserve the ends for munching while you wait. Put the slices back on the cookie sheet with the cut side down. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully turn the slices so the other cut side is down and bake for 10 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Make the chocolate glaze. Mix the chocolate chips and the shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti.




Make a big cup of coffee. Dunk a short segment in the coffee for a few seconds then let the drips stop and gently bite the soaked biscotti. Continue until you have eaten the whole thing. When you finish the coffee don't get grossed out by the crumbs in the bottom of the cup