Chocolate-Dipped Almond Biscotti

Here’s one of the baked goods I took in to the bookstore yesterday. They turned out beautifully. I’m kicking myself right now for not taking a picture, but now you know how crazy the last week has been.

The original recipe called for unrefined sugar, eggs, and adding the chocolate chips into the dough. Instead of the sugar, I used date sugar. Instead of eggs, I used a flax seed meal and water substitution (1 tablespoon plus 3 tablespoons water, whisked together, for each egg). And instead of rolling the chips into the dough, I held them back and melted them to spread on half of each finished biscotti.

Chocolate-Dipped Almond Biscotti

Adapted by Wardeh Harmon from http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000660.html (Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 cup flax seed meal (instead of wheat germ)
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup plus 2 T grapeseed oil (instead of 6 T butter)
3/4 cup date sugar (instead of unrefined cane sugar)
2 T flax seed meal + 6 T water (instead of 2 eggs)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (not in original recipe)
1/2 cup water (or as needed for consistency)
1/3 cup chopped almonds (instead of slivered)
1/2 pkg Sunspire grain-sweetened chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine flours, 1/3 cup flax seed meal, sea salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the 2 T flax seed meal and 6 T water. Add the oil and date sugar and mix well. Add the extracts and mix well.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add more water as needed until the dough holds together without crumbling apart. Mix in the chopped almonds.

Grease or flour a clean work surface. Shape the dough into a 12 inch log and then flatten it out to about 4 inches wide. Rustic looking is okay, even good. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes until it is beginning to brown.

Remove the biscotti from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300F. Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes so it doesn’t crumble during the next step (cutting).

Cut the load diagonnally into about 12 slices that are approximately 3/4″ thick. Arrange the slices cut side up on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake until dry and firm, about 30 minutes. Don’t underbake or they will not be crunchy. They might be slightly soft coming out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool off on the counter. Look for a golden brown color on the bottom before removing from the oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with wax paper. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler. When they begin to melt, stir until smooth. Lower the heat on the water so the chocolate chips won’t dry out from the heat. Hold one side of the biscotti while using a frosting spatula to spread the chocolate around all sides of the other half (top, bottom, 2  sides and the end). Lay the biscotti on the wax paper covered tray. Repeat until all biscotti are frosted. Put tray in the fridge so the chocolate will solidify. After about 15 minutes, check to see if the chocolate is solidified and that the biscotti can be removed from the wax paper cleanly.

Store biscotti in an airtight container.