Recipe--Coconut Biscotti Dipped in Chocolate

Earlier this week, I was wondering what I was going to do about a recipe for the blog today. Our main computer with all my pictures on it hadn’t been hooked up yet. All I had were the pictures from the last 2 weeks. As you can imagine, we haven’t been doing much fancy cooking, what with moving across the country and all.

 

But we had unpacked a few important things: our cookbooks and basic ingredients for baking. I’ve wanted to try making biscotti for awhile now. Since we don’t start school back up until next week, I decided that now was as good a time as any to try making some!

 

After perusing our biscotti recipe book, I decided to try two different varieties: Coconut Biscotti dipped in chocolate, and Maple Pecan (recipe coming next weekend.) They both turned out delicious and I had solved the dilemma of what to post about. J

 

Biscotti would make a great Christmas gift for friends or family, especially coffee drinkers. We stored some of ours in a wide-mouthed canning jar. A nice red ribbon tied around it would make it the perfect gift!

 

Coconut Biscotti Dipped in Chocolate

 

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

2 Tablespoons vanilla

2 medium eggs

1 ½ cups unsweetened coconut

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted (I ended up using twice this amount because it wasn’t enough for my liking. J)

 

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add vanilla, eggs and coconut. In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder and stir into coconut mixture. Divide dough in halves or thirds. On a well-floured surface, shape into logs. Transfer logs to a parchment paper-lined or lightly sprayed baking sheet, and bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm and lightly browned.

 

We were actually given a biscotti pan as a gift, so I used that instead of making logs on a baking sheet.

Cool on a rack for at least 5 minutes. Cut logs on the diagonal into ¾-inch slices.

 

Return slices to baking sheet, leaving space around each slice, and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes or until desired crispness.

Place on rack and, when completely cooled, dip about 1/3 of each biscotti into melted chocolate. Dry on rack.

Makes 24. (I only made 12 because I wanted them to be thicker.)

 

Tips:

 

If the dough is too sticky to handle when it is time to form it into logs, chill it in the refrigerator for 1 or 2 hours and then work it into logs on a well-floured surface.

 

Do not crowd the biscotti slices on the baking sheet for the second baking. They need room for the hot air to circulate.

 

To make the biscotti crisper, flip it half way through the second baking.