Orange Almond Chocolate Biscotti YOU Can Make!

YOU can make biscotti. It's not difficult at all! Just takes a little time. The dough comes together quickly and easily. It gets shaped into a loaf which is baked. The baked loaf cools a bit and is divided into a dozen half-inch slices which are baked again and you end up with firm, crispy servings just waiting to be dunked into a steaming hot cup of coffee.

This recipe was inspired by one I found in Ellie Krieger's cookbook, The Food You Crave. Ellie takes our favorite foods and healthies-them-up. I love her and all her recipes. Anyway…this recipe uses whole wheat flour along with all-purpose, uses olive oil, has relatively little sugar, as well as the healthy additions of sliced almonds and fresh orange zest. Dark chocolate rounds out this biscotti, which is a perfect compliment to the orange.

This is my first attempt at biscotti, and it came out great. Try it and let me know what you think! (As always, make it your own with whatever flavors, add-ins appeal to you!)


ORANGE ALMOND CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI
adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (seriously, if you don't have it, go get it!)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's Whole White)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup orange juice (fresh or otherwise)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract, if you have it
1 generous tablespoon freshly zested orange rind

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet morsels and chopped them up a bit)
1/2 cup sliced raw almonds

Directions:
In medium mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

In large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, olive oil, orange juice, vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest.

Gradually add dry ingredients, a bit at a time, into wet. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together. (I added orange juice to the recipe for this reason - it didn't come together without the added moisture.)

With your hands, blend in almonds and chocolate.

Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead a few times. Shape dough into a loaf, 10x3 inches. Place loaf on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, with sharp, serrated knife, gently but firmly slice loaf on the diagonal in 1/2-inch thick slices, being careful to keep slices intact.

Bake slices for 10 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for another 5-10 minutes (I went for 10).

Remove from oven and allow sliced biscotti to cool on wire rack.

These biscotti keep well for a week in a covered container, if you let them! After just a few minutes out of the oven I brought a few slices downstairs to Katie, Bill, and Meghan, who were enjoying hot cups of coffee from their new fancy-schmancy Breville coffee maker from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (which grinds the beans right in the coffee maker!), and they were very happy to put this biscotti to the test. They loved it!

Here are photos of the biscotti coming together:

Dough with almonds and chopped chocolate

Shaped and ready for the first baking...

Half-baked!

Sliced and ready to go back in the oven!
You can see it's still doughy in the middle, which is fine.

BISCOTTI!