Cioccolato Paradiso Italian Chocolate Paradise Biscotti Food

CIOCCOLATO PARADISO (ITALIAN CHOCOLATE PARADISE BISCOTTI)

Steps:

• Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown (do not overcook). Let cool.
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and orange zest.
• In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing just until crumbly.
• In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff soft peaks form and beat in remaining sugar, beating until stiff but not dry.
• Fold meringue into the crumbly dough, mixing until it clings together.
• Cut nuts into halves or thirds and fold in along with chocolate.
• Divide dough in half. Form into two logs on a greased and floured baking sheet making them about 1/2 inch thick, 1 1/2 inches wide and 16 inches long, sppacing them at least 2 inches apart.
• Bake in the middle of a preheated 325 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until set and golden brown.
• Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack. Let cool 5 minutes. Place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, slice diagonally at a 45 degree angle about 1/2 inch thick.
• Place the slices upright on a baking sheet and return to the oven at 300 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes to dry slightly. Let cool on a rack. Store in a tightly covered container. Makes about 4 dozen biscotti.

ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Position a rack in the top third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix together the flour, sugars, espresso powder, baking soda, anise seed, salt and chocolate chunks in a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together (it will be fairly dry before you knead it). Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough, squeezing it and pressing it against the surface, until you can form it into a ball, 15 to 20 times. Shape the dough into a flat log about 16 inches long and 2 inches wide. Cut the log in half crosswise. Brush the tops with a little bit of water and sprinkle the top and sides with some turbinado sugar.
• Place the logs side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Transfer the logs to a cutting board and cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 1/2-inch slices. Place the cookies cut-side up on a baking sheet and bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake until golden on the other side, 8 to 10 more minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. The centers will be slightly soft at first, but will crisp up as they cool.

ELLEN'S CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and set rack in the middle level of the oven. Cover 2 large cookie sheets or jelly roll pans with parchment or foil.
• Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt and sift into a mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar and nuts.
• Whisk the eggs and vanilla and stir into the flour mixture to form a dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, press dough together. Divide dough in half and roll into a log the length of the pan (14 to 18 inches) Place each log on the pan and flatten slightly. Bake for about 30 minutes, until well risen and firm. Cool the logs on the pans.
• After the logs have cooled, detach from paper and slice them about 1/2-inch thick with a sharp serrated knife. Place back on paper lined pans, cut side down, and bake again for about 20 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Cool on pans and store in a tin or plastic container with a tight fitting lid.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Toast the almonds on a baking sheet in the oven at 350F (180C) for about 15 minutes. Shake the pan once to make sure they get evenly browned.
• Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and then cocoa. Beat until well combined.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in another bowl, then gradually incorporate into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon until a dough has formed.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and almonds. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.
• Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Separate into two. Form each half into a flat log about 12 inches long by patting it down and squaring off the edges with your finger tips. Place well apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Bake for thirty mintues. Cool on a cutting board until no longer hot to the touch and then cut crosswise on the diagonal into slices about 1 inch thick. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake for another 15-20 minutes.
• Transfer biscotti on a wire rack to cool. Keep at room temperature in a cookie tin or other airtight container.

BISCOTTI CIOCCOLATO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the almonds in a shallow pan for about 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and adjust the oven to 300 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or with aluminum foil, shiny side up, and set aside.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso or coffee powder. Set aside.
• On a cutting surface, with a heavy knife, shred the chocolate fine. Place the shredded chocolate in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade. Add about a half-cup of the sifted dry ingredients and process for 20 to 30 seconds, until the chocolate is very fine.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla and almond extract, if using, just to mix. On low speed, add the processed chocolate mixture, the remaining sifted dry ingredients and the sugar. Beat to mix. It will be a stiff mixture.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the almonds.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Form it into a mound. Cut it in half. Flour each half, and with your hands, form them into sausage shapes about 12 inches long. Place each sausage shape diagonally on a lined cookie sheet. Straighten the shapes and brush off any excess flour.
• Bake two sheets at a time for 50 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back once during baking to insure even baking.
• Remove the sheets from the oven. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
• Then transfer the baked strips to a cutting board. With a serrated bread knife, carefully cut the strips on a sharp angle into cookies about a half-inch wide. (At this stage the cookies are fragile.)
• Carefully place the cookies, on the cut side, on the cookie sheets and bake again at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes, turning them upside down after 15 or 20 minutes, until the cookies are completely dry and crisp.
• Turn off the heat, open the oven door and let them cool in the oven. tore them in airtight containers.

CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI II

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder and salt. Add melted unsweetened chocolate, eggs, oil, juice, rum, peel and vanilla; stir to combine. Add baking chips and nuts; mix until dough is well blended.
• Quarter dough; shape into 4 logs, each about 2 1/ 2" wide by 14" long.
• Place 2 logs on each of 2 lightly oiled (10x15") baking pans.
• Bake logs at 350 degrees just until firm to touch, about 20 min.
• Cool logs slightly in pans; using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/2" wide slices.
• Place slices cut side down on pans; bake until crisp, about 15 min. more.
• Cool cookies.
• Meanwhile, in a double boiler, melt white chocolate and shortening over hot water, stirring until smoot h (or heat in a nonmetal bowl in a micro oven on 100 percent power for 15 sec. at a time, stirring after each interval, until soft and smooth, about 1 1/2 min.total). Dip 1 end of each cookie about 1" into white chocolate to coat. Lay cookies on wire racks until firm; chill to speed process.
• Serve, or wrap airtight to store up to 2 days; freeze for longer storage.