Weather: 18 degrees, dense fog advisory
What I’m listening to: The Wiggles, Yule be Wiggling
As much as I love coffee, I hardly ever drink it black. I’m more of a latte, mocha, creamer, fancy-schmancy flavored coffee girl. Today was an exception, or rather, this biscotti was the exception. This gingerbread biscotti was just begging for a freshly-brewed black cup of coffee. They are a match made in heaven. But, I also think this biscotti would be just as tempting with a hot cup of tea, a mug of hot chocolate, or just a tall, cold glass of milk (the way my kids enjoyed them after school). Grab a beverage and dip away. Oh, and give them away to friends for Christmas with a package of your favorite coffee or tea. Delightful.
I also have a biscotti-making tip for you. My preferred way of dipping biscotti in chocolate is the way I’ve done it in this recipe, long-ways, across the bottom of the cookie. There is a method to my madness. First, the bottom of the biscotti is the least-attractive part of the cookie, and dipping it in chocolate makes it pretty. The more important reason is because you get a little bit of chocolate with every bite of cookie. If you dip it in half the other way, half your cookie has no chocolate (boo) and the other half is covered in it, preventing your beverage from penetrating the cookie, which, in my opinion, is the whole point of biscotti.
Gingerbread Biscotti
Yields: About 20 cookies
- 1/2c butter, slightly softened
- 1c sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/4c molasses
- 2-1/2c flour
- 1c wheat flour
- 1T baking powder
- 1/2t salt
- 1T ground ginger
- 2t cinnamon
- 2t ground cloves
- 1t allspice
- 1/4t nutmeg
- 1/2t fresh orange zest
- For White Chocolate:
- 2c white chocolate chips
- 1T shortening
Preheat oven to 375. Grease two baking sheets.
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer. Incorporate eggs, one at a time, followed by molasses.
Sift together dry ingredients, spices, and orange zest. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well-combined and a stiff dough forms. Add more flour by the tablespoon if dough is sticky.
Divide dough in half.
Take one portion of dough and shape it into a roll, about 10-12 inches long. Pat the roll into a rectangle, about 3/4 inch thick on baking sheet, and as wide as you'd like your cookies (I did mine about 5-6 inches) . Make the rectangle as uniform in thickness as possible for even baking. Repeat with other half of dough.
Bake for 25 minutes. Remove pans from oven and reduce baking temp to 300. Cool cookies about 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
With a long, sharp, straight-edged knife, slice the rectangles into 3/4 inch wide cookie strips, discarding the rough edge on each end. Space cookies out on baking sheets and place them back in the oven. Bake another 8-10 minutes. Cookies will firm up and dry out as they cool.
Melt the white chocolate and shortening in a shallow dish (wide enough for biscotti to be dipped) in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Dip the bottom of each cookie into the chocolate and lay cookies on their side on waxed paper until set.
Store in airtight containers or bags.
