Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Julia's Biscottis, My Way.

Every holiday season I bake something for my friends. This year I was blessed with a biscotti recipe from the book Baking with Julia, Julia Childs that is. Of course I can never follow the exact directions, but her recipe for biscotti dough makes an amazing foundation for my Macadamia Nut Biscottis... dipped in chocolate.

A biscotti is a twice baked cookie. Always remember, the crunchier the better coffee dipper. Once you have a good dough on your hands, it's fun to experiment with flavor combinations. Nuts and dried fruit are always great contenders. This time around I used macadamia nuts and coconut milk. Since it is beyond freezing in San Francisco, I was hoping these cookies would take my friends to a tropical island... right? Maybe not. If you don't like coconut, you can always substitute it with vanilla and/or a liqueur. Either way, give these a shot, they're sure to please the masses.

Macadamia Nut Biscottis
Dough
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 large organic eggs
3 tsp coconut milk (canned is best)
{Julia's recipe calls for 2 tsp liqueur and 1 tsp vanilla extract}
3/4 cup sugar

Additions
2 cups roughly chopped roasted macadamia nuts
2 1/3 cups semi sweet Chocolate Chips (I actually prefer dark chocolate)
1/3 cup coconut milk
(shredded coconut or macadamia nuts for topping)

Preheat oven 350F
In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, and sugar. Don't let the eggs sit too long in the sugar as it can "burn" the yolk. Quickly combine dry and wet ingredients. Add the nuts and continue to mix until very well incorporated. You may have to flour your hands and really get in there, don't be afraid! The dough should get stiff, sticky and hard to stir. If dough is too sticky add some more flour, and vice versa. It should be easy to handle.

Form the dough into a thick log, about 5'' wide, 12'' long, 3'' thick. Place on a baking sheet about and bake for 35 minutes, keep an eye on it as it may cook faster depending on the size of biscotti log you created. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes!

Using a serrated knife, cut into 1/2'' thick slices, cutting diagonally. Lay the biscottis on their side on the baking sheet and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. I stored mine in the fridge for a day before I dipped them in chocolate. The biscottis themselves will last about a month in an airtight container in the fridge.

For the chocolate dip, create a double boiler by placing a glass bowl over a pan with boiling water - unless you own a double boiler. Stir together the chocolate chips and coconut milk in this bowl until completely melted. The consistency of the chocolate dip should be thick enough that it will completely coat the biscottis. Once melted, have fun dipping your biscottis! You can top them off with shredded coconut or more macadamia nuts. I chose to leave mine plain.

Source: Baking with Julia

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want a biscotti, they look yummy.

Anonymous said...

Save them for next week when we come up to visit. I'll need a dunker for my Peets coffee.

Lisa Engel said...

I'll just make some more :-)... in two snaps of my fingers!