Sunday, 11 February 2007

Dark Chocolate & Ginger Biscotti

choc-ginger biscotti
Well, last weeks's honey rhubarb muffins went down well. Can't say the same for the rock buns - I'm really not impressed with them. Any of them left at the end of this week are going out.
So, another biscotti variation this week (again, based on One Smart Cookie). In the mood for some dark chocolate, and having some crystallized ginger in the cupboard, it seemed natural to put the two together. I wasn't quite brave enough to play around too much with the basic biscotti dough, so I settled for just chopping up the chocolate and ginger and adding it as chunks. I think it works quite well. You get something different with each bite - sometimes a bit of chocolate, sometimes a chewy hit of ginger, sometimes a bit of both. Maybe if I make these again, I'll try a chocolate dough, but all in all I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Recipe:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter -- softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
50 grams crystallised ginger, chopped finely
75 grams dark chocolate (I used Green & Black's, 70%), chopped

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the ginger and chocolate to this mixture.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stir until just combined. If it seems dry, use your hands to complete the mixing until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Divide in half. Shape each piece into an 8 inch by 3 inch rectangle.
Place the logs fairly far apart on the lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until firm and starting to crack on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 15 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 275F/135C
Cut each log into 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices (12 slices per log) with a sharp knife. Place slices cut side down on the baking sheet.
Return to the oven for 15 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 15 minutes.

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