Schokoladen biscotti – double chocolate biscotti recipe by Anja Dunk
These biscuits could quite easily be triple chocolate by simply upping the quantity and kind of chocolate to the mix as well. If that sounds like your thing, try adding 50g of white or milk chocolate to this recipe to make them even more indulgent. I like to get the extra chocolate hit instead by eating them alongside or dipped into a cup of hot cocoa.
Makes about 30
plain flour 170g
unsweetened cocoa powder 20g
baking powder 1 tsp
fine sea salt a pinch
dark brown sugar 150g
eggs 3
vanilla extract 1 tsp
dark chocolate 80g, roughly chopped
almonds or hazelnuts 50g, roughly chopped
demerara sugar 1-2 tbsp, for sprinkling
Heat the oven to 160C fan/gas mark 4 and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
Put all of the ingredients except the demerara into a large mixing bowl and stir them together with a wooden spoon until a dense, damp dough forms.
Spoon the dough on to the lined sheet and shape into a log about 25cm long and about 8-10cm in diameter. The dough is pretty tacky and so won’t look all that neat, but it will even out in the oven. Sprinkle demerara over the top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm to the touch and just golden – it should be cooked through but not hard, more like a firm sponge in texture with a crisper outer edge.
Transfer on to a wire rack to cool completely – this is important as the chocolate also needs to be cool before you cut the biscuits, otherwise they will end up being a streaky mess.
Set the lined baking sheet aside, ready for the second bake, and reduce the oven temperature to 130C fan/gas mark 2.
On a chopping board, cut the log into slices 7.5mm thick, using a sharp serrated bread knife. Arrange the biscuits tightly on the lined baking sheet and bake for a further 25 minutes, turning them all over halfway through, until crisp on both sides.
Take out of the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Stored in an airtight container, these will keep for a month or more.
From Advent by Anja Dunk (Quadrille Publishing Ltd, £27). To order a copy for £27 go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
