This easy-to-follow recipe makes a wonderfully chocolatey, walnut-studded biscotti with a rich espresso & dark chocolate drizzle.
Last weekend I acquired (for the remarkably low yard sale price of $1)a pristine copy of Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook and I have been thumbing through its well-photographed, large, glossy pages all week, eager to try out a number of the recipes. One recipe in particular for a chocolate hazelnut biscotti caught my eye and served as the inspiration for some Sunday morning baking.
Of course, I was unable to leave the recipe un-altered and while my recipe is admittedly a bit estranged from Martha’s own, it is by a long stretch the best biscotti recipe I have ever made and I am very excited to share it with you today.
Note: since publishing this recipe I have developed my own PERFECT classic biscotti recipe!
Intensely chocolate-y, these twice-baked cookies are tougher than your average cookie without being too tough or stiff, nor are they too sweet (though if you have a significant sweet tooth, the optional chocolate drizzle helps to amp up the sweetness factor quite a bit).
Despite that this biscotti is neither chewy nor cake-like, it is very reminiscent of brownies in its flavor (and I think the walnuts help to add to this impression as well).
Be forewarned when making this recipe that the dough can be very sticky and difficult to manage when you first transfer it to your prepared cookie sheet. I recommend using a pair of spoons to scrape the dough into a semblance of two loaves on the baking tray and then flouring your hands liberally and patting the dough into a more appropriately loaf-like shape.
Dipped in coffee or milk or eaten simply as they are, these biscotti cookies make a wonderful complement to your morning coffee (or to any part of your day, really). They certainly are helping me this Monday morning.
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Enjoy!
Chocolate & Walnut Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
- 3/4 cup chopped walnut I purchased chopped walnuts and then further roughly chopped them so no piece was larger than a chocolate chip. The semisweet chocolate was cut to the same size
Chocolate-espresso drizzle
- 3 oz dark chocolate 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee mix
- 1 tsp cornstarch sifted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Line cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper and set aside.
- In KitchenAid (or with handheld electric mixer) beat together sugar and butter on medium-low speed.
- Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- In separate bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add flour mix to egg mixture, beating on medium-low speed until just combined.
- Stir in walnuts and chopped chocolate.
- Using a large spoon (or two), spoon dough out into two 10"x2" logs onto prepared baking sheet. Dough will be stiff and difficult to manage.
- Lightly flour hands and shape to uniform 10"x2" loaves.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, remove from oven (do not turn oven off) and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Once biscotti has cooled, lift parchment paper holding baked loaves onto a cutting board and line cookie sheet with a new sheet of nonstick parchment paper.
- Cut biscotti loaves diagonally into 3/4" slices and place cut-side down onto prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake on 350F another 12 minutes (until biscotti is dry), remove from oven and allow to cool completely before drizzling with chocolate (if desired).
Chocolate-espresso drizzle
- In small saucepan on low heat, combine dark chocolate and instant coffee, stirring until chocolate is completely melted.
- Whisk in sifted cornstarch, mix well.
- Drizzle immediately over biscotti, allow chocolate to cool and harden before serving.
Nutrition
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Susanna A Khanuk says
I have not made this yet, but it looks ah-mazing and I’m looking forward to making it for a family gathering. I was just wondering- can I leave out the walnuts? I know the recipe calls for quite a few so I don’t know if leaving them out will mess up the rest of the cookie.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Susanna! Yes, the walnuts can be left out. I also have a standard biscotti recipe as well where others have experimented with additional add-ins that you may also enjoy. 🙂