Saturday, April 27, 2013

Deep Darkest Chocolate Flax Biscotti

This morning we sadly ran out of my favorite Aunt Gussie's Spelt Hazelnut Biscotti - my preferred accompaniment to morning coffee! This inspired me to make some biscotti. I came across this recipe, which I ended up modifying: 1) I replaced half of the flour with ground flaxseed, 2) the flour I did use was all-purpose, not whole wheat and 3) since I didn't have chocolate chips on hand, I chopped up a Lindt 85% cocoa bittersweet chocolate bar instead. I'm pretty sure the the total amount of "chips" this produced was more than the recipe called for (I didn't actually measure it out)...but hey, it's chocolate!

Biscotti loaves cooling before slicing
Here's the final recipe:

  • All-Purpose flour, 1 cup
  • Ground flaxseed, 1 cup
  • Baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Salt, 1/4 teaspoon
  • Granulated sugar, 1/3 cup
  • Dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup tightly packed
  • Eggs, 1 large whole egg and 2 egg whites
  • Almond or Vanilla extract, 1 1/2 teaspoons (I used almond because I like it better)
  • Dark chocolate, 3.5 oz bar chopped (I used an 85% cocoa bar, but next time may try a 70% cocoa one)
  • Unsalted almonds, 3/4 cup coarsely chopped

Method: 

Sliced biscotti, before the final baking
Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, flaxseed, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the sugars, egg and egg whites; beat with a hand mixer on high for 2 minutes. Add almond or vanilla extract and mix well. Add flour to egg mixture, stir until well combined. Fold in chocolate and almonds. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into three equal log-like portions about 6 inches long and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. The dough will be very sticky; moisten your finger tips or spatula with water and pat into rectangle loaves 1-inch thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until firm.

Remove loaves from baking sheet and allow to cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F. 

Cut rolls diagonally (1/2 inch wide) into approximately 28-30 slices. Arrange biscotti slices on baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes; turn slices over and bake 7 more minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Biscotti will fully harden as they cool. 

Enjoy! 


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