Candied Orange and Cocoa Nib Biscotti

I love making Biscotti.  This recipe never fails me.  I simply adore it and I never get bored with it because I can always change up the mix-ins and get something completely different.  Plus, I can eat it with coffee and that's just fantastic.

This time I substituted whole wheat flour for some of the regular flour.  This is something I do quite often.  I've found that swapping out any amount up to half of the amount of regular flour for whole wheat works out pretty well in most cookie or muffin recipes.  If you try to do more than half, the baked good ends up pretty dry.  I'm slowly trying to whittle down the whole wheat flour population in my house so a few substitutions here and there have been working out for me.  Plus, now I can call this health food.

This is a combination of mix-ins I've never used before with candied orange peel and cocoa nibs.  It's not such a strange combination if you think about it.  You find chocolate and orange together quite often and even if cocoa nibs are not quite chocolate in its sweet and silky form, it has the essence of bitter chocolate which goes well with the orange.  The candied orange peel is kind of bitter too but that paired with all the sugar in biscotti gives it just the right balance.

In fact, this is potentially one of my favorite biscotti flavor combinations.  I love that it's not too sweet so I don't feel at all guilty eating it with my coffee when I have already eaten or fully intend to also eat breakfast.


I also love that it's unusual and it makes me feel like I'm eating something exotic which is totally ridiculous because it's made with the part of the chocolate plant that people used to throw away until someone decided it was a super food and the part of the orange that people also throw away until someone figured out it wasn't totally disgusting if you boil it in sugar syrup.  Just like when only butchers would eat hangar steak and they used to call mahi mahi dolphin.  It's marketing.  I swear there's someone examining the trash and deciding what the next food trend will be.

Despite that fact that I put trash in the biscotti, they're super awesome and you should make them or find your own trash and make it with that. 
 

Candied Orange and Cocoa Nib Biscotti
Adapted from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Orange Extract
1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Cocoa Nibs
3/4 cup Candied Orange Peel

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Cream butter and sugar together until it is fluffy and pale yellow.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating on low speed until incorporated.  Add the vanilla and other extract and mix until combined.

Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined.  Add all the cocoa nibs and candied orange peel and mix until just combined.

Divide the dough in half (it will be quite soft and sticky so use flour on your hands as necessary) and form each half into a log on your cookie sheet.  Each log should be approximately 12 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Bake for 30 minutes or until firm and lightly golden.  Remove the pan from the oven and let the logs cool for 10 minutes.  Transfer each log to a cutting board and use a serrated knife to cut the logs on the diagonal into 3/4 inch slices.  Carefully transfer each slice back to the cookie sheet and lay them on their sides.  Return the cookie sheet to the oven and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Enjoy!
Julie