Friday, November 6, 2009

8 Weeks of Cookies - Chocolate Chunk and Hazelnut Biscotti

It's that time of year again...time to start the holiday baking! Last year I baked a batch of cookies for each of the eight weeks leading up to Christmas. It was a really good way for me to have a nice varied cookie tray yet not feel overwhelmed with making a lot of cookies at one time.
Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Biscotti
My first batch, on Matt's request, are these chocolate & hazelnut biscotti. Now, biscotti aren't something I normally associate with Christmas but when I think of how good these will taste with a hot cocoa or even some hot spiced wine it makes total sense.

Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Biscotti
(adapted from Biscotti)

3/4 c hazelnuts
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temp.
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
2 T rum or rum extract
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
2 c all-purpose flour
4 oz bittersweet chocolate or mix of bitter & semi-sweet, roughly chopped (don't chop the chocolate too small or you'll just end up with chocolate biscotti)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the nuts in a roasting pan & roast in the oven for 9 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven & let cool a little. Rub off the skins the best you can with your fingers or in a towel. Chop finely in a food processor.

Turn oven down to 325 F.

In a large bowl beat the butter & sugar until fluffy. Add eggs & rum then beat until well blended. Mix in the salt, baking powder & flour. Fold in the nuts & chocolate.

Divide the dough into two piece. Form it into two logs, about 14-inch long and 1/2-in thick on a greased & floured cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the logs. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until starting to brown. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place cut side down on the cookie sheet & bake for 10 - 15 minutes more. Cool on a rack.

I got about 40 cookiesSacher Bites

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

12 comments:

KariH said...

I loved seeing all your cookies last year and this year I think I will follow your lead in making these weekly so I don't have to worry about last minute baking as I am doing my last minute Christmas shopping!
Did the Dulche de Leche Sandwich cookies from last year turn out well after being frozen with the filling?

kat said...

Kari - The dulce de leche cookies did not end up freezing well at all. I think I need to play with that flavor for a new cookie this year.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I love your weeks of cookies and these look fabulous!

Emerald Green said...

These look fantastic! How do you store them? Freezer til Christmas?

grace said...

wait, hot spiced wine? why have i never heard of this phenomenon? i don't care for wine, but then again, i've always had it unspiced and either tepid or chilled. perhaps spiced and hot is the way to go.
moving on--i approve of this christmas cookie. :)

Megan said...

Mmmm - biscotti are always a winner no matter what season. I especially love them when chocolate is involved.

Brenda Leyland @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

This looks yum! My sister and I were thinking about making biscotti for gifts this Christmas, so she went hunting for recipes, and found yours! It looks deee-lish!

I decided to post a link to your recipe, as I want to try it soon.

And thanks for the idea of doing something every week. I've always loved the tradition of Advent Calendars to mark off the big day -- a baking advent sounds just as wonderful.

Happy Baking!

Deborah said...

It's crazy to think that Christmas is already so close. I was out shopping today and the stores are already full of Christmas things. I still have never made biscotti - maybe this year will be the year for me.

Lori said...

Oh man, these look fabulous Kat! I mean, gotta have 'em, delicious!!

Lele said...

I definitely associate biscotti with the holidays! They are naturally perfectly shaped for dunking into tea/coffee/cocoa/etc. and what is more festive than dunking?

Jamie said...

Just discovered your blog and these amazing biscotti have me hooked! I love making - and eating - biscotti and these will definitely be tried in my house.

Peter M said...

If I had these around here, I'd go make a third coffee for the day.

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