I’m not normally a biscotti eater–they’re too dry for me. In fact, I don’t eat many sweets in general. If I could have a handful of potato chips or a chocolate chip cookie, I’d definitely pick the chips. Yum. However, I stumbled across this recipe last winter and it appealed to me, for some reason. I think I’ve mentioned that another reason I’m not a big baker is that I’m really not very good at following directions. Things like “half a cup” are always very relative in my book. I like cooking where I can say “hmm…I don’t really want mushrooms in this dish” or “HEY, I love sun-dried tomatoes so I think I’m going to double the required amount. Unfortunately for me, baking is not a “relative” cooking experience. Granted, I still manage to insert my own little “flair,” as you will see, I generally get kind of grumpy when I have to follow the rules.

In short, I don’t really remember why I decided to make these biscotti originally, but I will say that they ended up pretty darn good and I added the recipe to my “keeper file.” I initially found the recipe in the blog Bakin’ and Eggs but it’s originally from a 1994 Gourmet Magazine (RIP.) However, I like to give credit where credit is due.

When my co-worker invited me to a cookie exchange, I immediately got nervous. I’m “that” person. You know, the one with the food blog. I couldn’t just make any old cookies, mine had to be phenomenal. Not to mention the fact that I worker with a number of amazing bakers and (as I previously mentioned) baking just isn’t my thang.  I scoured my cookbooks and the internet in search of a delicious, wowable cookie. In the end, however, I came back to old faithful. These biscotti are just that good!

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti from Bakin’ and Eggs

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a large baking sheet.

In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until a stiff dough. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

With floured hands form dough into two slightly flattened logs on the prepared baking sheet. Each log should be about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Bake 35 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, leaving oven on.

On a cutting board, cut logs diagonally into 3/4-inch slices to form biscotti. Arrange cut sides down on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Biscotti keep in airtight containers 1 week and frozen, 1 month.

Yield: About 30 biscotti

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OK, so that was the recipe. I was a good girl and followed it to the T the first time (it didn’t yield 30 biscotti for me. How come recipes never actually yield what they tell me they’ll yield?) However, the dough seemed really, really dry to I thought I’d fix that by adding a dash of vegetable oil to the second batch. Well, a dash turned into about a tablespoon and my dough was smooth and easy to manipulate. I didn’t do a taste test between the two groups but they didn’t look any different. Overall, I think they were a success–I especially like the hunks of walnut and chocolate that surprise you in each bite!