Recently,
I had the experience of making homemade biscotti for the very first time. While I love biscotti, this isn’t something
that I would normally make for myself, and hasn’t been on the top of my list of
things to try baking. So why did I try
making it? Well, this semester in
school, I’m in a food writing class, which entails – you guess it – writing
various pieces of ‘creative writing’ about food and our experiences with
food. While my first piece had nothing
to do with biscotti, part of the assignment lies in bringing a tasty treat for
the entire class to indulge in while the class discusses your own piece of
writing. So, when my turn came around,
my Dad suggested making the biscotti.
Eager to try something new, I jumped in.
The
Recipe: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Biscotti
10
tbs unsalted butter
2
½ cups of all-purpose flour
2
¾ tsp baking powder
½
teaspoon fine salt
3
large eggs
1
¼ cups sugar
2
tsp pure vanilla extract
½
cup smooth natural peanut butter, room temperature
1
¼ cups dry unsalted roasted peanuts
1
¼ chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chunks (about 6 oz)
1.
Position racks evenly
in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper
2.
Melt the butter over
medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally.
Continue to cook until the butter browns and gets a nutty aroma, about 5
minutes. Let cool slightly.
3.
Whisk
the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
4.
Beat the eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and pale yellow, about 2
minutes. Gradually add the sugar while beating. Then slowly add the butter and
vanilla until evenly mixed, about 30 seconds more. Add the peanut butter and
mix until combined.
5.
While mixing slowly, add the dry ingredients to the
wet, in 2 additions, mixing just until absorbed. Fold in the peanuts and
chocolate pieces.
6.
Divide the dough evenly into thirds, and put each
portion in the center of a baking sheet. Shape the dough with slightly wet hands into logs
about 2-inches wide and 15 inches long. Bake until set and brown around the
edges, about 25 to 30 minutes. (For even baking take care to rotate the pans--
top to bottom and front to back--about half way though.) Cool logs on the
baking sheets for about 10 minutes.
7.
Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Cut logs crosswise, with a long
serrated knife at about a 45 degree angle, into 1/2-inch thick cookies. Place
cookies cut side down on the baking sheets. Bake until crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip the
cookies over and bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes more. Cool biscotti on the baking sheets. Serve.
8.
Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up
to 3 days.
Now this recipe is fairly simple to make,
although it may seem really complicated upon the first read-through. But, the first time I made it, I made quite a
big mistake. When making these biscotti,
what is kind of a big part to it? Yup, I
forgot to add the peanut butter. So, I
ended up having to make an entire second batch of biscotti with the peanut
butter to fix my error. But, overall,
these cookies are absolutely delicious and really easy to make and I would
highly recommend them for anyone who loves the peanut butter and chocolate
combination and loves biscotti as a nice treat!
Happy Baking!
-Allison