Yay! It's Christmas tomorrow and I love making biscotti around the holidays, especially this Candied Ginger Biscotti with Dark Chocolate. These tasty treats would be a delicious and pretty addition to your cookie platter this holiday season. They are super easy to make and are wonderful served with any type of beverage, like coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or do as the Italians do and enjoy it with a sweet dessert wine.
Back in the day, a really long time ago, baked goods were baked twice so they would travel well and stay fresh for months. They were called biscotti (meaning twice cooked) and, traditionally, were made without any added butter or shortening. Today's modern recipes will use either butter or oil and the biscotti still stays fresh for 4-6 weeks in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. They are also wonderful cookies to ship as gifts because they won't easily break during delivery.
I've been making biscotti for many years now (actually more than I'd like to admit!). While I was a college student, I had a side business making biscotti for local coffee houses and restaurants. I used to bake whenever I needed a break in studying and, somehow, ended up baking biscotti a lot. I developed some of my own recipes and, loved making it so much that I decided to start selling it. Although it was stressful at times trying to balance both school and a business, I'm really glad I did it, as I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a biscotti creator.
Oh. My. How I love candied ginger. I was eating it as soon as it hit the cutting board. I mean, this stuff is good! Who was the first person to cook ginger with some sugar? I don't know, but they were utterly brilliant, I say. FYI, put a little powdered or granulated sugar on the ginger if it becomes too sticky while cutting it.
My favorite is to dunk the candied ginger biscotti with dark chocolate in hot coffee.
Candied Ginger Biscotti with Dark Chocolate
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick) , at room temperature
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup dark molasses
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon candied ginger, finely chopped and divided
- 2 cups dark chocolate, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/176C degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and white and brown sugars by hand or with a mixer. Gradually add eggs, one at a time, then add molasses and 2 tablespoons of the candied ginger. Mix well and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and all spices. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and form a slightly stiff but still soft dough.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into two small rectangular loaves. Place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat and bake for 20 minutes.
- After loaves are finished baking, remove from the oven and reduce oven to 300F/148C degrees. Let the loaves cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove the loaves from the baking sheet and cut into ½-3/4" slices on the diagonal with a sharp knife and place slices laying flat back on baking sheet. Bake for additional 15-20 minutes.
- Transfer biscotti to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once biscotti has completely cooled, dip one side of each slice into melted chocolate and sprinkle with the reserved chopped candied ginger. Place back on wire rack to dry.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Store leftover biscotti in an airtight container 4-6 weeks (if they last that long!)
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