Ingredients for Biscotti Cookies
- 60 grams (2.25 oz) softened butter
- 250 g (9 oz) caster/superfine white sugar
- Grated zest of either 1 orange or lemon
- 2 eggs
- 400 grams (14 oz) flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 150 grams (1 cup) whole almond with the skin
- 3 tablespoons Rum/Cognac.
(makes about 45 cookies)
Ingredient for Triple Chocolate Dip
- 3 pounds of White
- 3 pounds of Milk Chocolate
- 3 pounds of Dark Chocolate
Recipe
Turn oven to 180 C/ 350 F
1. Mix the butter and sugar till smooth with a big spoon. Add zest and the eggs and beat well. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the almonds and the booze. I use whatever liquor I have (rum is good).
2. First, line your cookie sheet with parchment. Then dust your work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide your dough in 3 masses and form 3 salami style rolls of cookie dough (about 1.25 inches high/2 inches wide/and shorter than the length of your tray).
3. Put your dough logs on your cookie sheet and leave room between them for spreading. Bake for 20 minutes till they start to turn golden. They will be a little soft.
4. Get them out of the oven and lift them gently onto your work surface while they are still hot.
5. Cut them in slices, slightly at an angle. They should be about almost an inch wide. You should gently saw the surface of the cookie with a very sharp knife to break through the surface, but then chop down straight to shear the almonds cleanly for tidy little cookies.
Rearrange the cookies on the baking sheet cut side up. They will be fragile before
their second round in the oven so don’t rush that step.
(This is where you should really pay attention. I’ve overcooked these poor babies at this stage and made teeth breakers. My suggestion is to re-bake them for 5-7 more minutes. I think softer is better than harder as they do dry out as the days pass.)
6. Cover with clean towel not cellophane. Wait 1 hour before dipping in chocolate.
7. Melt each chocolate in large separate bowls (In a microwave or on a double boiler)
8. Dip all in White Chocolate. Cover the entire Biscotti Let rest for half hour
9. Then Dip the White Chocolate dipped cookie into the Milk Chocolate. This time only covering 3/4 of the cookie.
10. Again, let rest of half hour.
11. Finally take white and chocolate dipped cookie and dip half into the Dark Chocolate mixture.
12. While still wet you can grate powdered almonds, or coconut flakes, or even shaved white chocolate for decorative look.
Store in an airtight container and they can go a couple weeks – but they won’t. They never do.