almond chocolate biscotti

I guess I have a thing about twice baked goods recently. I devoured the May issue of Bon Appetit. Totally makes me want to hop on a plane and head to Italy for some good eats. There was a recipe for biscotti that looked delicious but knew that they had to wait because I had these biscotti on the mind for quite some time and needed to make them first. I've made these twice in the last week, the husband really likes them!, and our only complaint was we felt it needed more almond extract, so the second time around I upped the extract. These are crunchy, good for dunking and aren't totally guilt free but not too indulgent either. These are way back in the archives of 101cookbooks but definitely worth it.

Almond Chocolate Biscotti
slightly adapted from 101 cookbooks
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup oat bran 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 large organic eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 325.

Combine whole wheat pastry flour, oat flour, oat bran, salt, and baking powder.
Cream the butter and sugar together until creamy, and slightly lighter in color than when you started. Add the eggs and almond extract. Mix until well combined. You will need to scrape down the sides of your bowl a couple of times if you are using an electric mixer - you want an even distribution of the eggs.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Pulse the mixer on low a couple times so you don't end up with a flour cloud, and then leave it on low for a few seconds - just until the dough becomes stiff and the flour is pretty well incorporated. Stir in the slivered almonds and chocolate chips.
Now it is time to shape and bake your biscotti. The dough should be pretty stiff, and easy to work with but you may want to powder your hands and counter with a bit of flour if you are worried about sticking. Flatten the mound of dough into a flat log shape roughly 4-inches wide by 10 or 12-inches long. It doesn't have to be perfect - rustic looking biscotti taste just as good and I like a little character in my baked goods. Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet and place in the oven for 25 minutes, you want the dough to get firm and start to brown a bit. This is just the first of two rounds in the oven.

Remove the biscotti from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300F. Allow the now-baked dough to cool for about 10 minutes - you need it to firm up a bit so it doesn't just crumble when you go to cut it.

Cut the loaf into individual biscotti roughly 3/4-inch thick. This biscotti doesn't do particularly well sliced thinly if you want to go thinner try letting the loaf cool longer. Arrange the slices cut side up on the baking sheet and return to the oven for a second time around. You want to bake the biscotti until they are dry and firm, roughly 30 minutes. Don't underbake or you won't get the satisfaction of a nice crunch. It is tricky because, they might be slightly soft coming out of the oven, but will firm right up as they cool off on the counter.