First Biscotti

Over the past few years coffee shops have been popping up in every corner, so it's no wonder why people specially the yuppies love their cup of joe. I must admit I'm not a huge coffee drinker I'm more into the frappuccinos and blended coffee drinks but I sure do love the smell of freshly brewed coffee, it smells so luxurious and very invigorating.

Another reason of my love affair with coffee shops are the desserts that are temptingly displayed. One of the things I'm curious about is those little packs of biscotti that are reasily available right beside the cash counter. I haven't really have the chance to taste what real biscotti is suppose to taste like but that doesn't stop me from trying me hand into making my own biscotti.

Suffice to say it took me along time to find a biscotti without any butter in them. Most if not all the recipe I have for biscotti have butter in them, and for now I couldn't possibly use those.

Yes folks I ran out of butter again! What else is new right?

So butterless biscottis are the way to go. With much deliberation I finally decided on Nick Malgieri's biscotti which I got from his book Chocolate. The dough turn out to be very sticky, stickier than I expected, but in the end it turn out good. I didn't double bake it as long it says 20 minutes, but I took them out at 10 minutes cause my family specially my dad isn't use to firm cookies. They turn our pretty good, I got excited when it was time to cut these into their biscotti shapes, they do look like a real biscotti! They are very chocolaty with a nice crunch from the hazelnuts. To make it more chocolaty I drizzled some chocolates on top and leave them to dry overnight.

For non coffee drinkers like me and my brother, these are good with milk. My brother actually dunk the whole thing in milk!

Adapted from Nick Malgieri's Chocolate book

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder2 tsp. baking powderpinch of salt1 1/4 cup sugar1 1/2 cup hazelnuts, coarsely chopped4 eggs2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven. Preheat to 325 degrees.

2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in sugar and nuts.

3. Whisk eggs and vanilla together and add to the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to stir the dough together.

4. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press it together. Divide into 2 equal roll each into a log the approximate length of the pan. Flatten each log with the palm of your hand.

5. Bake the logs for about 30 minutes, or until they are well risen and firm when pressed with a fingertip. Leave the oven on and place racks in the upper and lower thirds.

6. Cool the baked logs on the pan on a rack.

7. After the logs of dough have cooled completely, place them on a cutting board and use a sharp serrated knife to cut them into straight or diagonal slices, 1/2 inch thick.

8. Arrange the slices, cut side down, on the prepared pans and return them to the oven to toast for about 15 minutes.

9. Cool the toasted biscotti on the pans on racks.

10. Drizzle with melted chocolate(optional).

11. Enjoy! Either on their own or dunk into coffee or a glass of milk.