American Chocolate Week; Amaretto Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

March 18, 9:51 AMSan Diego Cooking ExaminerLaurie Vengoechea

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Amaretto Chocolate Walnut Biscotti

March is full of holiday happenings and celebrations!
One such celebration that seems to have been a little overshadowed is American Chocolate Week. There are days throughout the year where chocolate is revered and shared but usually it is the gift given instead of the object hailed. Valentines Day, Easter and Halloween are such times that we long for the yummiest box of See’s Candies or we can’t wait to stuff plastic eggs with miniatures chocolate pieces to hide and then seek. So with all the rave about chocolate it’s not surprising that nationally chocolate is recognized for a whole week!

Paying tribute to chocolate this week I am starting off with one of my most treasured recipes, “Amaretto Chocolate Walnut Biscotti.”

These little Biscotti cookies have been a boost to my moral! I have made biscotti many times before, but I happened to change the cocoa amount and added real Amaretto instead of Pure Vanilla extract and maybe just a bit of Love Spice and voila, this has been a hit among friends and teachers at my daughters school whom I made them for.  The texture of this cookie was not as dry, nor as hard as a typical Biscotti cookie. They had a bit of a flavor resemblance to a brownie but still carried the unmistakable crunch you get with the beloved Biscotti, still great for dipping in coffee!

I also have to attribute some credit to the type of cocoa and chocolate I used. I made the chocolate decoration on top by melting and incorporating a little Amaretto liqueur into E. Guittard Chocolate wafers. These are such luxurious chocolates, so buttery and smooth in texture and taste. I paid a bit more than I usually would for chocolate pieces, but for Valentines day I also made Pecan Turtles for my husband and I wanted a high quality gourmet chocolate for his dolce treat and the price I paid was well worth it!

For the cocoa I used Scharffen Berger Natural Cocoa Powder. It too was very smooth without the harsh acidic flavor you might find in a natural cocoa powder.
The difference between natural cocoa powder and dutched cocoa powder is in the processing. Natural cocoa powder is not treated chemically whereas dutched is.

According to facts from the Scharffen Berger web site;

Dutch processing means the cocoa has been alkalized or washed with an alkaline substance such as potassium carbonate to reduce harshness and acidity. Manufacturers reasoned that since cocoa butter, the more valuable fraction extracted during the making of cocoa powder, was unaffected by bean quality, it made sense to use less expensive beans and then chemically treat any flavor problems in the powder.

"Natural" cocoa, however, has not been chemically treated. Scharffen Berger cocoa powder offers only natural powder. Because Scharffen Berger uses such high quality cacao beans, there is no need for Dutch processing. We let the inherent fruitiness and full flavor of the cacao bean itself emerge.

The more I invest in quality products and utilize fresh ingredients in my cooking and baking, the more I notice a difference in the overall outcome of what I have prepared.


AMARETTO CHOCOLATE WALNUT BISCOTTI

Ingredients
2/3 cups Softened Butter
1 1/4 cups Sugar
4 Eggs
3 Tbsp. Amaretto
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups Walnuts or Whole Almonds

Directions
Preheat Oven to 375?.
Prepare 3 cookie sheets by coating them lightly with butter. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue beating.
When light and fluffy, add eggs one at a time continuing to beat on medium. Every once in a while
scrape down sides of the bowl. Add Amaretto and incorporate.

In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients except for the nuts. A little at a time add dry ingredients into your butter, egg and sugar mix. Just blend until well combined. Add nuts and mix in.

Dough will be sticky and hard to handle at this point. Have some flour on hand to dust your hands with while working the dough into logs. With hands dusted, divide dough into 6 equal portions. Shape dough into six 8x1, 1/2 inch loaves.
Place 3 logs on each cookie sheet 4 inches apart, flatten slightly. Bake 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for around 45 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325?. On cutting board cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2 inch slices; return slices to cookie sheet. Bake 5 minutes. Turn slices over and bake cookies an additional 5-8 minutes more or until gold, dry and crisp. Don't let them get brown. For me I think they taste overdone when they are let to stay to long. Cool on racks. Decorate with a drizzle of fine melted chocolate.

*Just a note, check dates on packages and spices in your cupboard. Rotate your stock at least every six months if possible.  If your can says to shake the contents before use.. do it. An event I took part in last year with the Daring Bakers had quite a bit of us stumped because the cake wasn’t rising for some people, as it should have. We were preparing Dori Greenspans “Perfect Party Cake”. It was a beautiful white cake with a coconut topping. The discussions for the cake not rising were as broad as the flour to the buttermilk. I made mine twice, the first time I used old baking powder without a successful cake rise, the second time I mixed the ingredients the same but used fresh baking powder shaking the can as instructed before use. Great rise and a success for me!

Hope you enjoy!
Happy Chocolating,
Laurie