Chocolate Cherry Almond Biscotti

These chocolate cherry almond biscotti were good enough to pull me out of sluggish apathy this morning and finally revive a blog wallowing in abandonment for three years. Well, abandoned by us as bloggers, but not as bakers. We continue to reference this blog for our favorite shared recipes on a weekly, if not daily, basis. And it looks like some of you reading this do the same! Thank you for continuing to follow along over the years, even when new content was scarce. After a long break I think we’re ready to start posting regularly again…just in time for the holidays!

So now let’s just cut to the chase.

chocolate cherry almond biscotti

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1 tablespoon finely ground espresso; or 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup white sugar, plus more for sprinkling

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate*, chopped

• 1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

2. Prepare dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat on medium high speed butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down bowl, add eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined, about about 1-2 minutes. (Mixture may look curdled; don’t worry.) Add dry ingredients in three additions, mixing on low until just combined. Scrape down bowl. Add chopped almonds, chocolate and cherries and stir on low until just incorporated.

4. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a log approximately 12 inches long, 1 inch high, and 1.5-2 inches wide. Place side by side lengthwise on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until slightly firm. The logs will spread and crack a bit, and it adds to their charm!

5. Cool cookie logs on pan for about 20 minutes. Then, carefully lift the logs, one at a time, onto a cutting board and slice each log into slices about 1/2-inch thick. You’ll get anywhere from 15-20 slices from each log, depending on how thick you slice them.

6. Stand slices up on the baking sheet (as Dorie says, like “an army of biscotti”!) and return to the oven to bake at 350 degrees for another 10-20 minutes, until firm. Cool completely. Biscotti keep in an airtight container on the counter for 1-2 weeks, and in the freezer for several months. These are great for shipping!

Notes:

• Chocolate: We love to keep Trader Joe’s pound plus chocolate bars on hand for baking.

• Slicing biscotti: I like to cut biscotti slices at a diagonal. It makes each slice slightly longer and gives them an elegantly angled edge. I’ve used both serrated knives and carving knives here, and sometimes one works better than the other. If the nuts are catching on the serrated knife’s edge (which sometimes happens when they are left in larger chunks), then try a carving knife.

• Omissions: Sure, you can leave out the cherries, and the almonds for that matter too, but I just love a chok-a-blok biscotti. Here’s another one for the books: Almond Cranberry Biscotti.

Adapted from none other than the Cookie Queen herself, Dorie Greenspan, in Baking: From My Home to Yours. Sophie chronicles her borderline obsession with Dorie’s cookies here.