Triple Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

Perfect cookies for dunking in a good strong cup of coffee



My friend Brenda from over at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen made biscotti this past week and I have not been able to get those beautiful crunchy biscuits off my mind. To boot, this month's 'We Should Cocoa' challenge has been playing with my imagination. The challenge is chocolate and cherries and as the image of biscotti stewed around abit, I began plotting the next 'sweet tooth treat' for SB. Yes, chocolate biscotti would be just the ticket ... but let's add chocolate chips AND dried cherries! Then, let's dip those little guys in bittersweet chocolate so that when they get dunked in coffee or milk or tea or whatever ... oh my! And almonds! Why not almonds too ?

The baguette pan was a perfect way to keep the biscotti 'logs' rounded out.

The gang's all here, folks! I initially tried these biscotti plain because I was thinking that the dipped chocolate and almonds would be just a bit over the top, but the crispiness needed a smooth chocolate cover to help with overall consistency. To boot, when I dunked the chocolate-dipped trial in my coffee ... well, it was just short of orgasmic. Sorry if that offends some tender sensibilities, but it was. Period. Peace.

Triple Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

Oven: 325°F for 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 c. dried cherries, chopped roughly

½ c. Amaretto liqueur (plus more for the dough, if needed)
2 ¼ c. flour
¾ c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
3 large eggs
Reserved cherry liquid (the Amaretto and cherry juices)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. mini-chocolate chips

Dipping Ingredients:

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips (60 % cacao)
a small lump of butter

1 ½ c. slivered almonds, toasted and cooled

Making the Biscotti:

1. Place the chopped cherries and the Amaretto liqueur in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and set it off the heat to soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa, bakling powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3. Whip the butter and sugar until is is light yellow and smooth.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, whipping well between each addition.
5. Strain the cherries and reserve the Amaretto and juices. Add the reserved liquid and the vanilla extract to the eggs and sugar mixture.
6. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to make a stiff dough. Fold in the cherries and the chocolate chips.
7. Lightly flour a kneading surface. Line a long cookie sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough in hald and roll each half to make a biscotti ‘log’ that is about 12 to 14 inches long and about 2 ½ to 3 inches across.
8. Place the ‘logs so they are a few inches apart and running the length of the big cookie sheet.
9. Brush the logs lightly with egg white and sprinkle the tops with raw/large crystal sugar.
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes.
11. Remove the firm ‘logs’ and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice the  logs with a serrated bread knife on the diagonal into ¾ -inch ovals. Lay the ovals back on the parchment paper cookie sheet and place them back in the oven.
12. Reduce the oven temp to 275°F and let the cookies bake for another 20 minutes, flipping them after the first ten minutes.
13. Remove from the oven and let the biscotti cool in cookie racks.
14. When the biscotti is cool, melt the bittersweet chocolate and a small lump of butter in a bowl in the microwave or over boiling water.
15. Toast and cool the slivered almonds.
16. Dip the biscotti in the chocolate and touch them to a layer of the almonds, flip them to a platter and let the chocolate ‘set up’.
17. Store in tight-lidded containers until ready to snack on, wrap as gifts, or sneak as midnight treats!

Anyway, these are really fun biscotti ... they won't last long. That's for sure! Now, all I have to do is post them to the proper spot on the web to share this month's We Should Cocoa offering. Janice and Choclette have challenged us this month to combine cherries and chocolate. Janice has hosted from her blog, Farmersgirl Kitchen. Oh boy! Click on over to see what others have come up with in answer the chocolate cherry directive ... there's bound to be a bunch of temptation just waiting for you!

Chocolate Log Blog