Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti

These Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti are so addictive. They are great for dunking in the coffee or just simply delicious on its own. My son commented the biscotti smells and taste like brownies, just crunchier. So he named it, The Crunchy Chocolate-Cherry Brownie instead! This is another great recipe adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours book by Dorie Greenspan.


Recipe adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours book by Dorie Greenspan

Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
½ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp Instant Espresso Powder
¾ tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
¾ Stick (6 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
1 Cup Sugar
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/3 Chopped Dried Cherries
1 Cup Chopped Almonds, blanched or unblanched
4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped, or ¾ Cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
Sugar, for dusting

Method

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale, about 2 minutes; the mixture may be crumbly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes; don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the chopped cherries, nuts and chocolate, then turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into 12-inch-long logs. Flatten both logs with the palm of your hand, so that they are ½ to 1 inch high, about 2 inches across and sort of rectangular, then carefully lift the logs onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle each log with a little sugar.

Bake the logs for about 25 minutes, or until they are just slightly firm. The logs will spread and crack – and that’s just fine. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, put it on a cooling rack and cool the logs for about 20 minutes. (Leave the oven on.)

Working with one log at a time, using a long serrated knife, cut each log into slices between ½ and ¾ inch thick. Stand the slices up on the baking sheet-you’ll have an army of biscotti-and bake the cookies again, this time for just 10 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.