Triple your pleasure with chocolate dipped chocolate biscotti

By Jim Bailey
theyankeechef.blogspot.com

Many food historians mention that biscotti (biscuits) have been around for many centuries, having been enjoyed since Pliny the Elder before the birth of Christ. He is said to have mentioned that these hard, dry biscuits would last for centuries without going bad.

Whether they are called rusks in the British Isles, biscotte in France, zwiebacks in Germany, biskota or paxemadia in Greece, mandelbroth in Israel or sukhariki in Russia, they are enjoyed as a dunking ‘bread’ with your hot cocoa, but were (and still are in some regions) dipped in Vin Santo popularly.

Chocolate biscotti, please!

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
2 ounces white chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, eggs, sugar, cocoa and baking powder until creamy, on high with a hand-held mixer or standing mixer, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and incorporate flour, a little at a time, until completely mixed in.

With a wooden spoon, stir in the white chocolate evenly. Divide dough into two uniform logs. Place logs onto prepared baking pan, separated by a couple of inches. Slightly flatten and bake 21 to 23 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into each log comes out clean.

Remove from oven to cool on pan for 5 minutes, reducing heat in oven to 350-degrees F. Slice each log into 1/2-inch wide slices on the biased (diagonally). Return to baking pan — cut-side down — and continue cooking for about 7 more minutes to lower the moisture content. Remove from oven to completely cool.

In the meantime, place chocolate chips in a large, shallow microwave-safe bowl and cook, on high, for 30 seconds. Remove to stir. If chocolate has not completely dissolved, repeat 15 more seconds and then again if needed. Stir until smooth. Dip the bottom of each cooled biscotti slice into the melted chocolate and place back onto waxed paper-lined pan, on its side, for the chocolate to harden. If the bowl of melted chocolate isn’t large enough to dip the biscotti into, simply spoon the melted chocolate onto the bottom of each.

Schiffer Books of Pennsylvania has released Jim Bailey’s new book The Yankee Chef: Feel Good Food for Every Kitchen. It contains more than 550 traditional New England comfort-food recipes tweaked for today’s palates with hundreds of kitchen tips and food facts. The hardback book is 312 pages and contains 200 color images. Its ISBN is 978-0-7643-4191-5 and the cost is $34.99. The book can be ordered through Misty Valley Books, 802-875-3400.