A long long time ago, almost like an ancient history, I used to eat these little biscuits quite a lot because my mother loved them. But we would always buy them from the pastry shop. About a month ago, while I was going through some photos on Instagram, I saw someone posted a biscotti photo and that’s when I remembered those biscotti times. So the next day I baked them!

 

 

 

Biscotti is an almond biscuit from Italian cuisine.It is generally oblong shaped and is baked twice – once in long form, second in slices. It is very delicious when dipped in coffee, but you can eat it without dipping into anything too. When I baked it for this recipe, I served with Turkish coffee.

 

This variation of biscotti with chocolate chunks is adapted from “Joy of Baking”. Alternatively, you can prepare biscotti with only almond and after the second baking (in slices) you can dip the slices in chocolate and let cool.

 

 

 

 

As for almonds, please take your time and roast the almonds beforehand. It makes such a great difference you can’t imagine! Biscotti is tasty in any case, but with roasted almond it is one of the richest tastes on earth!

 

Enjoy your biscotti with coffee or tea – dipping or without dipping. Bon appetite!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: ★★☆ (medium)
(makes about 15-20 biscuits)

 

2/3 cup / 1.6 dl. white sugar
2 eggs, in room temperature
1 tsp / 5 ml. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups / 4.2 dl. white flour (vehnäjauho, for Finnish readers)
1 tsp / 5 ml. baking powder
1/4 tsp / app. 1 ml. salt
3/4 cup / 1.8 dl. almonds, roasted and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup / 1.6 dl. / 110 gr. chocolate, chopped into small chunks (I used Fazer Milk Chocolate)

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

 

2. In a mixing bowl, put eggs, sugar and vanilla extract and beat until they are fully incorporated, for 5-10 minutes.

 

 

 

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine.

 

 

 

 

4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat until they are combined.

 

 

5. Fold in almonds and chocolate chunks — sorry, forgot to take the photo of this step!!

 

6. On a well floured surface, put the dough and shape it into a 10x30cm log. Transfer to an oven tray with baking sheet on, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until it is firm when touched.

 

 

7. Remove from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, decrease oven temperature to 165C.

 

 

8. On a cutting surface, cut the log into about 2 cm thick slices. Place the cut pieces on baking sheet, with cut surface down. Bake for about 10 minutes, then take out of the oven, turn to other side, bake for 10 more minutes, or until they are golden brown. The longer you bake, the crunchier they will get so you can decide how much you want to bake. Once baked, take out of the oven and let cool. Biscottis stay in good condition for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Yummm!!