Espresso Choco-Chips Biscottii

I thought long and hard before deciding to bake this. my first experience with making biscotti was not smooth. the dough was extremely sticky and slicing the hot half-baked dough was a challenge. however, i was going to meet my girlfriends and i wanted to make sweet treats for them. and because we were planning on meeting after work, i needed something that easily "portable" and "durable" that could at least last until i meet them. although cookies and muffins were good choices (if not for the delicate frostings on cupcakes, i would have done cupcakes; they are sooo pretty.....), i decided to go with biscotti because they can keep for long and are good snacks with coffee. my group of girlfriends are hardworking professionals whom i assume enjoy a cuppa coffee now and then. i had hoped that the biscotti would serve as their tea-time snack during their hectic work days. 

Espresso Choco-Chip Biscotti (adapted from sagerecipes)

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder ( i used vietnam coffee powder)
• 250g cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 100g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line 1 sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the instant espresso powder with 1 tablespoon hot water. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugar, using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the espresso flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips just until incorporated.
5. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and form each portion into a log (2 inches thick). Do not flatten the logs (the dough will be sticky). Place the logs onto the sheet pan, a few inches apart from each other. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Turn the oven down to 275ºF. Transfer logs to a clean cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally, 1/2 inch thick. Discard the end pieces (or munch on them). Place the cookies cut side down on the sheet pan and bake for another 40 minutes, until toasted and dry.

Vanilla Kisses

BEFORE i plunge into making macarons which use expensive ground almonds instead of cheap plain flour, i decided to practice my piping skills with these cookies.. actually, i could also practice piping at the Icing Room but Dear and i know that we arent gonna eat much the cake full of whipped cream... so when i stumble upon this recipe, i knew instantly it will serve as a good practice. 


well, turned out that, piping needs practice! =P


aesthetics aside, the cookies tasteed pretty good. it fall apart easily when your teeth sink into it. think i read somewhere that some people call it "melting moments".. you get the idea. 


the only thing was......i was careless with the sugar... 

Vanilla Kisses (adapted from Women's Weekly)


Ingredients:


125 g ------------ butter, soften
110 g ------------ caster sugar
1 ---------------- egg
35 g ------------- plain flour
100 g ------------ corn flour
35 g ------------- custard powder
35 g  ------------ self raising flour
1 tsp  ------------ vanilla extract (optional)


Vienna cream filling
60 g ----------- butter, soften
120 g --------- icing sugar
1 tsp ---------- vanilla extract
2 tsp ---------- milk

Method


1. preheat oven to 200degC. grease and line two baking sheets
2. beat butter, sugar and egg until fluffy.
3. sift in the dry ingredients in two batches and stir well after each addition
4. spoon mixture into a pipe bag fitted with a 1cm wide tube. pipe 3-cm round mixtures, 3 cm apart onto baking sheets. bake for 10-15 min
5. meanwhile, prepare the vienna cream filling: beat butter and vanilla extract until as white as possible. mix in the icing sugar in two additions
6. when cookies are done, cool them on a wire rack
7when cooled, spoon 1-2tsp of vienna cream onto one cookie and top it with another cookie.

chocochip almond nut biscotti

i have been wanting to make more biscotti since my first attempt, but the thought of the super sticky dough kinda put me off. despite so, i still bought nuts for biscotti making, because Dear mentioned he really liked biscotti. biscotti are ideal snacks for Dear cos he enjoys coffee and they can keep really well in air-tight containers, and so can be stored in his office.

i am so sure he is gonna love this one more... this batch of biscotti is more crispy than the previous ones. adding chocolate chips is an excellent idea.

ChocolateChip Almond Nut Biscotti (adapted from Good Housekeeping: Favourite Cakes, Bakes, & Cupcakes)

 Ingredients:

125 g ------------ plain flour, sifted
1/4 tsp ---------- baking powder
75 g ------------- golden caster sugar (i replaced it with 20 g brown sugar and 55 g white sugar)
pinch of salt
pinch of grounded cinnamon
1 tsp ------------ milk (i used 1 tsp milk powder)
1 ---------------- large egg, beaten with vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ---------- vanilla extract
25-30 g --------- almond nuts, chopped
25-30 g --------- chocolate chips

Method:

1. preheat oven to 200degC
2. pour plain flour into a big bowl
3. stir in baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt
4. create a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add milk, egg, almond nuts and chocolate chips in it
5. using a fork draw flour from the sides and mix until a sticky dough is formed
6. transfer sticky dough onto a flour surface and knead into a ball
7. roll ball into a 28 cm log shape dough and transfer to a non-stick baking sheet on baking tray. lightly flatten the top surface
8. bake in 200degC preheat oven for about 20-25 min, until top is browned
9. reduce oven temperature to 150degC
10. remove half baked dough from oven and transfer it onto a chopping board (dough is still very hot; you may allow it to cool for a while before transferring)
11. slice dough into 1 cm strips and place the strips (cut side up) back on the baking tray
12. bake at 150degC for another 15 mins or until slightly browned and dry

hmmm... something is missing. is it espresso? Americano? or in local context... KKOOOPPII-OOO KOOOOOSONg...

Almond biscotti - Dear's assigned task

Over the weekend, Dear challenged me to bake some biscuits, in particular, biscotti. I immediately thought of cranberry-almond but luckily he specified that he wanted a nutty one and only nutty ones. Since I had only almond nuts at home, I decided to go for conventional almond biscotti.

Biscotti are all easy to bake except for the STICKY dough. It was super sticky! I wonder if it should be that sticky. As a result, I could not roll it into the log shape that was needed and I wasted a fair bit of dough. But, according to Dear... it tasted good! He liked it! The only thing was that I could really slice them into thinner pieces... agreed!

Biscotti with coffee make an awesome tea-time snack... the Italian way.

Almond Biscotti

Ingredients

• 145 g almond nuts 
• 265 g plain flour/ all-purpose flour 
• 150 g  granulated sugar 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1/8 tsp salt 
• 3 eggs 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp almond extract (I omitted) 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180degC and roast almond nuts for about 5 mins. Let cool and chopped the nuts coarsely. 
2. In a small bowl, beat lightly the eggs and extracts 
3. Turn down temperature to 150degC. Line a tray with baking sheet. 
4. Using an electric mixer or hand mixer, beat and mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well-blended (about 30 secs) 
5. Gradually add the eggs-extracts mixture, and add the chopped nuts halfway, until a dough forms 
6. On a floured surface, roll the dough into an approx. 14-in by 3-in log-shaped dough. 
7. Transfer onto the baking try lined with baking sheet. Bake for about 30-40 mins until the surface of the dough feels firm to touch. 
8. Remove half-baked dough from the oven and let cool for 10 mins 
9. using a serrated knife, slice the dough into about 1/2 to 1 inch thin strips. Place them side facing up on the baking tray and return them to the oven to bake for 10 mins. 
10. after 10 mins turn the other face side up and bake for another 10 min. 
11. Let cool and store in air tight container.