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

Maple Leaf Cookies

Here's a recipe for extremely delicious maple cookies that are very easy to make. Of course, they're perfect served in the fall, but honestly, you can't go wrong serving them any time of year.  If you love pure maple syrup, you must try these cookies.  You won't believe how good they are. 

Roll cookies to 1/4-inch thickness.  I like to use rolling guides to ensure all my cookies are the same thickness.  

I also like to roll my cookie dough between two layers of wax paper.  This eliminates the need to dust extra flour all over the counter and cookie dough.  It's a much less messy operation and the dough scraps can easily be rerolled. 

The cookie dough for this recipe is frozen for 15 minutes before cutting (don’t freeze longer or the dough will get too hard).  You can make any shape cutout, but I love this maple leaf cutter.  Press the cutter into the dough, then push the plunger to leave an impression of the design.  Work quickly because the dough will soften in a short time.

I love the way these look.  

Transfer the frozen cutouts to two silpat-lined half sheet pans.  If the cutouts soften before you've had a chance to transfer them to the pan, pop them back in the freezer to firm up.  Be sure to freeze the cutouts for at least 15 minutes before baking too.  That will help them retain their shape as they bake. 

Look how cute they turned out.  And just wait until you taste them - they're amazing.  Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

If you don't have a maple leaf cutter, feel free to use any shape you like.  I sometimes cut them with a 2 1/2-inch cutter from this round scalloped cutter set - they look very elegant stacked on a footed cake stand.  This recipe makes about thirty 2 1/2-inch round cookies.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• pure maple syrup https://amzn.to/3rcnFB6

• maple leaf plunge cutter https://amzn.to/3usHeHF

• rolling guides https://amzn.to/3objSlT

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/35CtsaU

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3rfun9m

• double sided round cutter set https://amzn.to/3AI53Mo

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Maple Leaf Cookies

makes about 3 dozen cookies (2 1/2-inch)

Printable Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Directions

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

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or BeaterBlade attachment, beat butter and both sugars together on medium speed for 3 minutes.

3. Reduce speed a little and add egg yolk and pure maple syrup; mix until combined.

4. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined.

5. Wrap cookie dough well in plastic and chill for a minimum of 2 hours (or up to several days).

6. Preheat oven to 325F and line 2 half sheet pans with Silpat liners.

7. Roll chilled cookie dough 1/4-inch thick between two layers of wax paper.

8. Freeze rolled cookie dough for exactly 15 minutes before cutting shapes with lightly floured cookie cutters; imprint design if using plunge cutters (don’t freeze longer than 15 minutes or the dough will be too hard to cut).

9. Transfer cutouts to prepared pans and return to freezer for another 15 minutes.

10. Bake one pan at a time in the center of the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the cookies just begin to turn golden around the edges. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

adapted from Martha Stewart