Chocolate and Almond Biscotti (Donna Hay)

I have noticed that the weather at Melbourne has been cooling down lately. Although today is going to be a warm autumn day, tonight will not be as warm as more than 20°C.

Due to the weather change, I have been drinking tea lately...

I'm never a tea or coffee drink but lately during moments of stress, I like to stop doing everything, keep calm, sit back, relax and have a cup of tea... My favourite are usually the fruity and caffeine free ones like these from Twinings.

I like a quiet afternoon, a cup of tea with a slice or two guilt-free cakes or biscuits... something like biscotti.

Wait up now, Zoe! Let's stop dreaming and bake something. Besides a cup of tea, baking can be very therapeutic for me too.

Being a health freak, anything with no butter and oil added or less sugar sounds to me. Yes that I know that these twice-baked Donna Hay's chocolate biscotti contains about 3/4 cup of sugar but the sweetness in these rich cocoa and almond treats is well-hidden and pretty subtle. In fact, you probably need a lot senses to detect any fat and the hint of sweetness of these treats.

Otherwise, the best way to enjoy these... A quiet afternoon, a cup of tea with a couple of chocolate biscotti... Anybody?

Cuppa... Anybody?

Making these biscotti is super-easy. Just mix ...

... and bake!

Slice...

... and bake again! Enjoy!

Here's the recipe from the book, Simple Essential: Chocolate by Donna Hay
(with my modification and notes in blue)

Make 40
270g plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
30g cocoa powder, sifted
(I used Valrhona Dutch processed ones)
165g caster sugar
3/4 cup blanched almonds
3 eggs
(I used large 80g eggs)
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160°C (or 150°C fan forced) . Place the flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar and almonds in a bowl and mix together. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to form a dough. Note: Depending on the size of the eggs used, dough can be sticky but I didn't add any flour to fine-tune the consistency of my dough

Divide the dough in two. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead each piece until smooth. Shape into logs and flatten slightly. Place the logs on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 35 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. 

Cut logs into slices 5mm thick and place on baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 25 mins or until biscotti are crisp. Note: Like I mentioned in my previous biscotti baking, I like my biscotti to be rather less teeth-crunching and bake mine for 10 to12 mins.

Note: Using 1 1/2 of the recipe, I have used 280g of blanched almond to bake 3 biscotti logs at 150°C fan forced for 35 mins, sliced the logs into 50 biscotti and baked them again 150°C fan forced for 10 to 12 mins.

Happy Baking
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