Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Biscotti

I've been craving some good biscotti for awhile now so I figured I'd make my own chocolate biscotti with almonds.  I've always been a big fan of Dave Lebovitz, an American chef cooking from my beloved city of Paris, who focuses on the sweet life in Paris - desserts and pastries.  I came across this recipe for chocolate biscotti on Dave's blog, and it's truly great - decadently chocolate, crisp biscotti, perfect for dunking in a nice cup of hot tea (sorry i don't drink coffee, but you get the idea).  It's also not that difficult to make, either and made a nice large batch that you can enjoy for a couple of weeks as long as you store them in an airtight container.  This recipe is a great way to start the day with a cup of tea, or coffee if you prefer, and reminds me the chocolate croissants starting off a morning in Paris.

Dave Lebovitz's chocolate biscotti
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup almonds toasted and coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chocolate chips
For the galze
1 large egg
2 T of coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat togther the eggs, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. I did this using a stand mixer.  Then I mixed in the dry ingredients, nuts and chocolate chips until the dough holds together in the mixer.  It doesn't quite come together in the mixer on its own - you're going to need to pull it together with your hands - very chocolatey!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and divide the dough in half.  Roll the dough into two long logs, nearly the length of the baking sheet. Flatten the tops of the logs and glaze with the remaining egg. Sprinkle the remaining sugar on top and bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until the dough is firm to the touch.

Remove the dough from the oven and cool for 15 minutes. Use a serrated knife to diagonally cut the cookies into 1/2 inch slices.  Lay the cookies cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how crisp you like you biscotti. For my oven, which is brand new, I found 20 minutes to be perfect.