Chocolate-Drizzled Almond Biscotti

When I was in elementary school, I relished going to Starbucks with my dad.  It was the mid 1990s, and Starbucks hadn't yet taken off in the area where we lived.  The nearest shop was at least an hour round trip from our house.  But I didn't mind the long drive; I just loved the father-daughter time.  And, to be completely honest, I knew that if I came along for the ride, there would be a chocolate-covered biscotti and kid-sized hot chocolate with my name on it.   Both the time with my dad and the chocolate-y treats made the entire experience feel like a special occasion.

I can remember one particular trip, though, that left me feeling very guilty.  My dad and I  made the trip to Starbucks, and, after waiting in line, I trotted back to the car carrying my sweets.  We've always enjoyed Starbucks in the car, never in the store.  On the way home, we made a pit stop so my dad could run an errand and I waited in the car.  

While my dad did his errand, I happily munched away at the biscotti until there was nothing left except crumbs.  I'm not sure how long my dad's errand took, but it was long enough for me to finish the biscotti.  When my dad returned to the car, he reached for the empty biscotti bag.  He looked inside and seemed confused. 

"Jamie, what happened to my half of the biscotti?" 

Oops.  Oh no..I had a flash of panic and a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I hadn't realized that the biscotti was intended to be shared.  I had thought it was mine and mine alone, and I'd scarfed it down accordingly.  My dad's a pretty forgiving guy so I don't think he was too upset by this series of event.  If anything, he was probably amused.  But I felt like a pretty terrible daughter. 

Now that I'm an adult, I can make (and eat!) biscotti to my heart's content.  But if you make these, just beware: biscotti is prone to disappear if left unattended.  My dad assured me that there were no hard feelings from the unfortunate biscotti incident.  Even so, I feel like I ought to send him  a batch of these chocolate-drizzled biscotti to make up for my overzealous biscotti consumption as a kid. 

(click here for printable recipe)

Chocolate-Drizzled Almond Biscotti
(adapted from this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which was adapted from Bon Appetit) 

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
•  1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 large egg white
• melted chocolate, for drizzling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, in a medium bowl.  Mix sugar, butter, 3 eggs, vanilla extract and coffee liqueur in large bowl.   In three portions, add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir with wooden spoon until well blended.  Stir in almonds.

2. Cover hands liberally with flour.  Divide dough in half and place on prepared cookie sheet.  Shape each dough half into a log.  (Logs will spread during baking, so leave some space between them).  Whisk egg white in small bowl with a fork, and spread over top and sides of logs.   

           

3. Bake logs until golden, about 30 minutes. Place cookie sheet on rack and cool logs completely.  

           

4. Transfer logs to cutting board.  Use a serrated knife to cut logs into diagonal 1/2" slices.  Arrange biscotti, cut side down, on cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Then, remove biscotti from oven and turn biscotti over.  Bake another 8-10 minutes.

5. Allow biscotti to cool completely.  If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate (I like to melt chocolate chips on the stove using a double boiler).   

Yield: 3-4 dozen biscotti


(click here for printable recipe)