Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

There's something quite indulgent about sitting down for a little "me time" with a hot beverage and a lovely biscotti cookie for dunking.  Biscotti (biss-KO-tee) means "twice-cooked" or "twice-baked", and that's indeed how these cookies are made.  They're first baked in loaf form, then sliced and baked again.  The second baking is what gives them their crunchy, dunkable character.  

Start by placing flour, dutch processed cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together and set aside until needed.

Next, chop the chocolate.  In our house, we like to use a really good quality dark chocolate - I used 85% cocoa here, but you could use something a bit sweeter.  Semi-sweet chocolate usually falls around 60% cocoa.  

In a small mixing bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and brown sugar together and set aside until needed.

You'll also need a couple of large eggs and pure vanilla extract.

And a little instant espresso powder mixed with some hot water.

I love how espresso powder accentuates the flavor of chocolate.

And don't forget the pistachio and craisins.  Chopped dried cherries would be a nice substitution for the craisins.

Now for the fun part - dump everything into a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade or paddle attachment; mix until no traces of dry flour remain.  

The dough should look like this when done.  Now put the dough into a gallon-size zipper bag and chill for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven. 

Chilling the dough makes it a little easier to handle, but it's still very sticky so I suggest gloving up before handling.  

Press the sticky mass into a 4x10-inch rectangle on a silpat or silicone lined half sheet pan.

See?  I told you the dough was sticky.

Bake as directed, then cool for 20 to 30 minutes, or until you can comfortably handle it.

Transfer the loaf to a cutting board and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices with a serrated knife.

Place each slice onto a silpat or parchment lined half sheet pan and put them back into the oven to bake again, flipping half-way through so both sides crisp up.  

After the cookies have finished baking a 2nd time, allow them to cool completely on a rack, then drizzle with melted white chocolate.  I melted my chocolate in the microwave before pouring it into a plastic zip-top bag.

Snip a very small hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle.  Work quickly - the chocolate will firm up fast. 

There you go.  Leftovers can be stored up to a week or more in an airtight container.  

Happy Dunking!

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

makes about 20 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 3 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder mixed with 2 tablespoons of hot water

• 1 cup shelled pistachios

• 1/2 cup craisins (or chopped dried cherries)

• melted white chocolate for drizzling

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. in a small bowl, combine chopped chocolate and brown sugar; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with BeaterBlade or paddle attachment, place flour mixture, chocolate mixture, eggs, vanilla, espresso mixture, pistachios, and craisins; mix on medium speed until all traces of dry flour disappear.

4. Wrap cookie dough well with plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes (or up to a week).

5. Preheat oven to 300F and line a half sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper.

6. Press cookie dough onto prepared sheet pan, forming a 4x10-inch loaf.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and allow loaf to rest for 20-30 minutes before transferring to a cutting board and cutting into 1/2-inch thick slices using a serrated knife.

9. Return sliced cookies to sheet pan and bake for another 6 or 7 minutes per side.

10. Cool cookies completely on a rack before drizzling with melted white chocolate. Leftovers can be stored for a week or more in an airtight container

adapted from Entertaining with Beth

Pistachio Shortbread

We love pistachios so I knew I wanted to give this recipe a try when I found it over at Bon Appetit.  I thought about dipping the finished cookies in melted chocolate, but opted for this variation instead.  The chips are placed right after the cookies come out of the oven - the heat of the warm cookies is enough to melt the chips right in place.

Lets start with some yummy pistachios.

Grind them up until they're sandy.

Don't let them go too long or they'll turn to paste.

Transfer the ground pistachios to a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment (or better, a BeaterBlade), add the flour, salt, almond extract, butter, and water; mix until the dough comes together. Transfer dough onto a piece of wax or parchment paper.

Roll dough into an 8x12-inch rectangle.

I used the flat side of this plastic bowl scraper to help keep the edges straight. A bench scraper would also work.

Slide the paper onto a flat cookie sheet or the back side of a rimmed sheet pan like I did.

Pop the dough into the fridge to chill for about an hour.

After an hour I used a pizza wheel and stainless steel ruler to trim the edges.

Perfect.

Then I cut the dough into 8 strips lengthwise and 4 strips width-wise so I ended up with 32 rectangular cookies that were ready to bake.

Okay, transfer half of the cookies onto a silpat-lined sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Optional: Add a few chocolate chips to each cookie right after they come out of the oven. Enjoy.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• silpat/sheet pan/cooling rack set https://amzn.to/3ciVCGf

• pastry scraper https://amzn.to/3dxWhnI

• stainless ruler https://amzn.to/3cjDJXQ

• pizza cutter https://amzn.to/3Ulu5K1

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/3KNdIC8

• bowl scraper https://amzn.to/3H7Cg6y

• stainless steel ruler https://amzn.to/3ACZRcY

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Pistachio Shortbread

makes 32 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ounces (126g) shelled, unsalted pistachios

• 5 1/4 ounces (150g) granulated sugar

• 6 1/8 ounces (173g) all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon (6g) fine salt

• 1/2 teaspoon (6g) pure almond extract

• 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 tablespoons (30g) ice cold water

• optional: 98 chocolate chips (3 per cookies)

Directions

1. Process pistachios and sugar in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground.

2. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat beater (I love my Beater Blade); add flour, salt, almond extract, butter, and water.

3. Mix just until thoroughly combined.

4. Roll dough into an 8x12-inch rectangle on parchment or wax paper.

5. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough lengthwise into 8 strips, then cut crosswise into 4 strips.

6. Slide parchment or wax paper onto flat surface (like an upside down sheet pan) and chill dough for about an hour.

7. Preheat the oven to 350F.

8. Place the cookies, leaving about an inch of space between each, on 2 silpat-lined sheet pans and bake one pan at a time for 10-12 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and place 3 chocolate chips on each cookie if desired. Cool completely.

adapted from Bon Appetit