Chocolate Anise Biscotti

You know, I don't understand why biscotties are so expensive in StarBucks, {insert country name here} . It is actually the simplest thing to make, ever! And the ingredients are really not that expensive at all. Well, with this recipe, you're going to be able to make your own biscotti in a jiff. This recipe has been a staple in my home for a while now - by a while i mean since I moved to Canada.

Chocolate Anise Biscotti

Biscotti is actually double baked biscuits. And they are usually cut into 0.5 inch to 1 inch thick before they are baked the second time. Of course, you can also slice them thinly too but then, you'd have to add another step and that is to freeze them first. But anyway, i like my biscotties thick and they are great when dunk in cold milk...mm! The italians usually flavor their biscotties with star of anise or aniseeds and that gives a bit of a woody peppermint flavor - couple that with chocolate it is absolutely to die for :) I got my recipe from Giada DiLaurentiis, star of Everday Italian. She adds 1 teaspoon of ground aniseed but I like mine with more of an Oomph! so i add 2 teaspoon and I also up the chocolate chips *wink* There is no such thing as too much of a good thing!


Chocolate Anise Biscotti

Ingredients - Can you see my ground aniseeds? :)

Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1.5 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of butter, soften
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon ground star of anise/aniseeds (blend about 10 in your blender as fine as you can, you'll have some extras)
1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Optional:
If you'd like your biscotti to have a fruity flavor to it, adjust your chocolate chips to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup of sultanas/raisins/cranberries/any dried currants. And if you want your biscotti to have a different flavor, you can add vanilla essense/orange water/rose water/pandan flavor/etc. Oh, and if you want your biscotties nutty, just add almonds or walnuts or even hazelnuts. I just stick with the aniseed and chocolates because it's what I like best :)


Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend, I find that if you don't want to make too much of a mess sifting your flour, you can also whisk it with your metal whisk - it does the same thing.

3. Using an electric mixer/hand beater, beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl to blend. You'll get a light yellow color at the end. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time and mix well. Add the ground anise seed and mix well.

4. Add the flour mixture and this time use a spatula to mix well until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. You will have a cookie dough that does not stick much. If you live in a warm climate and your dough gets sticky, just pop them in the fridge for 10 mins. They will be easier to manage then.

5. Divide the dough into two portions. Form each dough into roughly 8-inch-long, 3-inch-wide log. Flaten it a little with your spatula so the thickness of the dough is roughly 1 inch thick.

6. Transfer the logs side by side to the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

7. Place the log on the cutting board. Using a serrated knife or a very sharp knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Serrated knife seems to make cleaner cuts but sharp knives does the job too.

Optional step: If you want really thin biscotties, put the cooled logs into the freezer for 1 hour. Then, take them out and slice them into very thin slices. Now, you will definitely need a VERY sharp knife to do this.

8. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotties until pale/yellow golden, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the biscotties to a rack and cool completely.

These make wonderful gifts too for your relatives and friends. This recipe would yield you about 35-40 pieces. And to think Starbucks sells them for CDN1.50 each piece. They make a ton of profit. Hmm..maybe I should sell them these biscotties! :P