With the start of the new year, I was eager to try new recipes. It has only been a few days since I returned to Ohio, but I already started to miss the treats in New York City. One of those treats is black and white cookies. During my trip back to Brooklyn, I bought a box of black and white cookies to share with my family. These were the same black and white cookies I served at my wedding in July of 2018. When Kevin and I got married in New York, we wanted to share a notable New York treat with our guests. After much contemplation, we decided to serve our wedding guests black and white cookies. Over the weekend, I had an urge to apply the idea of black and white cookies into a new type of treat. I had already planned to make biscotti so I thought to combine the two and ended up making black and white almond biscotti. My cravings for biscotti started after I received some biscotti as a holiday gift from one of my colleagues last month. My colleague had given each member of our office dried fruit biscotti wrapped in cellophane. Her version of the biscotti tasted a bit like a Panettone. It was crunchy yet soft and had dried fruits weaved into each piece. I didn’t end up eating the biscotti when she first gave it to me, but I finally ate it the day I flew back to Ohio. On the day of my return flight, I brewed up a cup of coffee and dipped the dried fruit biscotti into my coffee. The biscotti was so satisfying and paired nicely with the coffee. When I was making my black and white almond biscotti, I wanted to incorporate flavors from both treats. I ended up adding lemon zest, vanilla extract, and almond extract into the cookie dough. After baking and cooling the biscotti, I dipped each end of the biscotti in a vanilla and chocolate glaze. I based my biscotti recipe on a cross between a cookie and a scone. Biscotti is best served with a cup of black coffee. This gave me an excuse to finally set up the Keurig I got as a gift during the holidays. Dipping these delicious black and white almond biscotti into my coffee made for the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. Coffee with biscotti also gave me a burst of energy before Kevin and I went to watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at a local movie theater.
Black and White Biscotti:
For the biscotti:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
· ½ cup granulated sugar
· 2 large eggs, room temperature
· Zest of a small lemon
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the vanilla glaze:
· 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
· ½ teaspoon almond extract
· 1 tablespoon milk
· ¼ - ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
For the chocolate glaze:
· 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted
· 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 tablespoon milk
· ¼ - ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and combine after each addition. Fold in the lemon zest and extracts. Gently fold in the flour mixture. Mix until a dough is formed. Divide the dough in half. Use your hands to shape the dough into two slightly flat logs.
4) Bake the logs in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for 15 minutes.
5) Use a serrated knife to slice the logs into about ½ inch pieces. Lay each of the sliced biscotti pieces on their sides on the parchment lined baking sheet.
6) Place the baking sheet back in the oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven. Flip each piece of biscotti over to the other side. Place the biscotti pieces back into the oven and bake for another 10-13 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven and let the biscotti cool for an hour before adding the two glazes.
7) To make the vanilla glaze, combine the butter, extract, and milk in a small bowl. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until the glaze reaches a smooth, ribbon like consistency.
8) To make the chocolate glaze, combine the butter, cocoa powder, extract, and milk in a small bowl. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until the glaze reaches a smooth, ribbon like consistency.
9) Once the biscotti has cooled, dip one end of the biscotti in the vanilla glaze and the other end in chocolate glaze. Continue with the rest of the biscotti pieces. Let the glazed biscotti cool over a cooling rack before serving.
Takeaways: The biscotti can be served with or without the glaze alongside your favorite hot drink. My version of the biscotti is crispy yet soft. These black and white almond biscotti tastes like a glazed crispy almond cookie. You can vary the flavors of the biscotti by adding in your favorite extracts and dried fruits into the biscotti dough prior to baking. Twice baking the biscotti is essential to giving it a nice crispy crunchy, and soft texture.