Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

2 C (10 oz/283 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 C (1 oz/28 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T (7 g) instant espresso powder
¾ t (4 g) baking soda
½ t (2 g) baking powder
½ t (3 g) salt
¾ stick (6 T) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C (7 oz/199 g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 t (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 C (5 oz/140 g) almonds silvers
½ C (3 ½ oz/140 g) candied cherries
4 oz (113 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 oz (226 g) white chocolate (optional)

Place oven rack in middle position and heat to 350° F(176° C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In bowl of stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale, for 2 minutes; mixture will be crumbly. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl as necessary. Add eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until dough forms. Mix in nuts, chocolate, and cherries and then turn dough out onto work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that might have come loose during mixing.

Divide dough in half. Working with piece at a time, roll dough into 12-inch logs. Flatten logs with palm of hand, so they are ½ to 1 inch high, 2 inches across and rectangular. Place logs onto prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until just slightly firm. Rotate pan one half turn midway through baking. It’s normal that logs will spread and crack. Remove baking sheet from oven, put on cooling rack for 20 minutes. Leave oven on.

Working with one log at a time and using serrated knife, cut with sawing motion each log into slices between ½ and ¾ inch thick. Stand slices up on baking sheet and bake again for 12 minutes. Transfer biscotti to wire rack to cool. Optionally, melt 12 oz of white chocolate chips in heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Once melted, pour melted chocolate in small zip lock bag. Snip off corner and drizzle over biscotti.

Makes: 40 pieces

2 Jan 18 – Followed recipe as written for the Chocolate-Cherry version although I did not use the dried cherries as suggested but rather used candied ones. I also increased the quantity from 1/3 cup to ¾ C and could have up it to one cup. For the nuts, I used silvered almonds and I toasted them before incorporating in the batter even though the recipe did not call for it. Used medium size Pyrex Glass bowl for dry ingredients which was the right size. Once combined, dough was a nice, workable consistency. Not to dry, not to wet. As usual, the Danish whisk worked great combining the add-ins. Baked in the island oven for the times called for in the original recipe. Although not called for in the recipe, I lightly sprayed logs with water to make cutting easier. It seemed to help. Each log made 20 to 21 pieces, approximately 3/4-inches wide. I drizzled 20 pieces with melted Ghirardelli white chocolate (used tempering machine to melt 8 oz which was twice what I needed). Biscotti had good strong chocolate favor probably due to the Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate and the 2 T of espresso powder. Biscotti was firm but not overly hard.

3 Jan 18 – Made second batch because we gave away most of the above to Jan after here should diagnosis. Corrected cocoa powder weight error. Recipe reflects correction. I also increased the amount of candied cherries as well as on cutting them in half as opposed to quartering them. Made a positive effect in finished biscotti. I also increased the second bake time by 2 minutes (12 mins total) to firm up the texture. First batch (10 mins) seemed a little soft after one day. I believe I could increase second bake time by an additional 2 mins (14 mins total) without making biscotti too hard. I garnished half with large crystal sugar and the other half with white chocolate drizzle. One 4 oz white chocolate (tempered) bar along with 1 square from a second bar was more than enough to garnish 20 pieces. Made 41 ½ to ¾-inch pieces. This batch was an improvement over the previous which was also good. Texture was firmer, flavor good and with cherry to almond ratio.