I have been on a biscotti bender this week, getting ready to give friends and family treats when we see them. We loved the blueberry almond flavor biscotti that I made a few days ago. This time I decided to do a twist on a recipe that I had been making for a few years, Marbled Gianduia Biscotti (Chocolate Hazelnut Marbled).
If you are new to baking biscotti, you should know that they are one of the easiest baking jobs I have ever made and most of the recipes can be made in one bowl. I have been posting pictures on Instagram when I finish a batch as you can see by the image below. This batch was trickier than some others because the dough was extremely stiff.
Biscotti dough can run the gamut from extremely soft to very stiff, and occasionally it is also dry and crumbly. All of these extreme dough types are problematic in different ways. The stiff dough is probably the easiest to deal with except that it can break your hand mixer. I like using a hand mixer to make these, but broke two of them before I ended up investing in a more expensive and hardier model.
Any of the three mixers below will work for most biscotti recipes, but low-cost hand mixers just don’t hold up to the ingredients and doughs that you get when making biscotti. My latest mixer is starting to struggle, and I will have to get a new one soon. I can tell because it starts to smell like it is burning when I use it, but I have had it for several years. I do recommend KitchenAid because I have had very good results with them.
KitchenAid KHM512ER 5-Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer
KitchenAid KHM926CU 9-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater II Accessories and Pro WhiskKitchenAid KHM7210CU 7-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater II Accessories and Pro Whisk
Okay, so back to the recipe. A traditional Gianduia recipe has a chocolate dough with hazelnuts and sometimes almonds mixed in. I have found that I prefer that at least some of the dough in my biscotti not be blended with chocolate to get a fuller mix of flavors when you taste them. So instead of making the dough chocolate, I made it marbled instead.
- 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts raw
- 1/2 cup whole almonds raw
- 5 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels for melting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanila extract real not imitation
- 2 tbsp Frangelico
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Bake hazelnuts and almonds in a baking dish at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.
- Rub the hazelnuts with a soft towel to remove skins as much as you can after baking.
- Set aside to cool. (I keep toasted nuts in containers for baking purposes so I can just get them out when I am ready to bake.)
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, vanilla and Frangelico.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and blend thoroughly.
- Melt the chocolate, then pour it over the blended dough and mix it in partially so that the dough is marbled. It is best to do this with a spoon.
- Chop coarsely or cut nuts into halves or thirds, then mix into the dough. It will be quite stiff and hard to mix.
- Divide dough in half and form 2 logs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave at least 2 inches between the loaves.
- Bake logs at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Let cool on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes.
- Cut across the logs to slice the biscotti between 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.
- Stand them up on their edges on the baking tray and bake at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. They should be dry to the touch.
- Let them cool again on the baking rack.
Tips: Using parchment paper to line your trays reduces fat in these cookies and is super easy to place and move the dough. And it never sticks when done. Biscotti does spread when baking so you need to leave enough room between the two logs.
Storing Biscotti:
Biscotti can be stored at room temperature for one month in a sealed container. It never lasts that long in my house unless I hide it. You can also store it up to six months in your freezer also in a sealed container.
Follow Paula Atwell: Lake Erie Artists’s board Recipes: Biscotti only☼ on Pinterest.