Put Some Crunch in your Life--Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Hey all, I thought you all might be craving something a little out of the ordinary for me.  I guess you could call this a dignified dessert.  It is, after all, one of those desserts that has to be enjoyed with a warm beverage--coffee, tea, or in my case, hot chocolate.

Yes, biscotti.  This crunchy, munchy, sweet treat can be found in coffee shops and Italian bistros the world over.  I actually only had biscotti for the first time last year.  I am really not into crunchy desserts--they're not my thing.  Give me gooey, soft, and melt in your mouth!!

But, one day when Jaime and I were eating at a great little place in Lincoln called Caffe Italia.  We got one of their wonderful panini sandwiches, and then he ordered a cappuccino.  I also wanted an after lunch snack to enjoy so I got a hot chocolate and a chocolate chip biscotti.

Let me just tell you, my hatred of crunchy desserts disappeared.  After dipping the biscotti in the hot chocolate it was soft and the chocolate melted in my mouth.  The next day, I decided to give biscotti a whirl.

I found this recipe on a nice blog called Half Baked.  The recipe is really simple.  You can check it out using the link.

Here are some photos of the process:

Mixing the dry ingredients--don't mind the cinnamon, you don't even really taste it.

Cut up the butter into half inch pats.  Pat of butter--was that a school lunch line term?  I don't remember.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients...

Until it is thoroughly combined.

Add liquids and bring it all together with a fork--

and your hands!

The recipe said to divide the dough into four "logs", but if you want the traditionally sized biscotti, I would divide it into two instead.  These turned out like mini-biscotti.  p.s.  Notice the two pans--which one do you think worked better?

After you bake the biscotti logs for the first time, you slice them into, well, slices.

Then you re-bake those slices until they are brown and crunchy.  Notice that I laid mine the wrong way--they should be laying cut side up.

Finished product.  Check out that texture.  Delish!

I was very happy with the finished product of this biscotti.  It was very tasty.  I took it home for the holidays and my dad really liked it.  I think it might be a holiday staple from here on out!