Chocolate dipped Almond Biscotti
1 ½ cups of cake flour
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup almonds, dry toasted
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp almond extract
1 tsp orange zest
6 oz of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips
First line a sheet pan with foil for easy clean up and line the foiled pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl add both types of flours, baking powder, kosher salt and the dry roasted cooled whole almonds. Use a fork mix the ingredients so they are well incorporated together. You can sift the ingredients if you choose.
In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, beat the room temperature eggs along with the sugar until they are light and pale in color; about 3 minutes. Next with the mixer on low add the vanilla and almond extracts along with the freshly grated orange zest until incorporated well, about 30 seconds. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until it barely comes together; don’t overmix or the dough will be tough. The dough should be very very sticky and soft.
Prepare the parchment paper lined sheet by dusting it with four, flour your hands as well and have a bench scrapper ready for use. Dump the dough onto the floured parchment paper that is lining your baking sheet. Use the bench scrapper to pull the dough into a log that is semi football shaped and about 3 ½ inches wide by 10- 12 inches long. Bake on the center rack for 40-45 minutes and until a toothpick just comes out clean. Using the parchment paper lift the log and set on a wire rack to cool for 20-25 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees F and place a new sheet of parchment paper on the foil lined baking sheet. Once the log has cooled for 25 minutes, transfer the log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife cut the log into ½ inch thick slices and place on a cut side down spacing them evenly apart. Bake the biscotti for 15 minutes at the reduced temperature then flip the biscotti to the other cut side and bake an additional 10-15 minutes so the biscotti are pale golden brown. Remove them from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
After the biscotti have cooled completely, about 1 hour it is time to dip them into chocolate and drizzle to decorate. Pour the chocolate chips into a heat proof bowl and set the bowl over simmering water not allowing the bowl to touch the simmering water. Melt the chocolate chips over the double boiler until melt completely and fully incorporated.
Once the chocolate is melted, remove the heat proof bowl from the double boiler. Holding one biscotti at a time, dip the bottom edge into the chocolate covering only the bottom of the biscotti. Allow any excess chocolate to drip off before placing on the sheet pan line with parchment paper to cool. Repeat the same process with the remaining biscotti. Last is the chocolate covered drizzle to decorate. Take the remaining melted chocolate and whisk it smooth again. Take a teaspoon and in one stroke drizzle the melted chocolate across the entire sheet pan lined with parchment paper with the chocolate bottom dipped biscotti in one long stroke and repeat 5-10 times until the pattern is ascetically pleasing.
Transfer the chocolate dipped Almond Biscotti to the refrigerator for only 5 minutes to harden the chocolate. Once the chocolate has hardened, store in an airtight container in a cool or room temperature place for up to 1 week.
