Chocolate Blueberry Biscotti

My home still has the distinctive aroma of heaven!  Yesterday I decided to create some biscotti from the Chocoley Chocolate that I'm reviewing.  It takes alot of willpower not to just devour it right out of the bag!  I figured I'd better get the harmless dark brown morsels  baked into something quick.  I'll "hide" them in some biscotti!

The only problem was that this recipe adapted from "the cook's tour" desperately needed chocolate and I had just the stuff to use.  Chocoley's new product is a fair trade, organic and 65% dark chocolate.  Perfect for baking as I proved with these aromatic chocolate blueberry biscotti.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour

2 large eggs, for batter

1 egg for brushing the tops, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup blueberry flavored craisins or dried blueberries

1/2 cup Chocoley fair trade organic chocolate, crushed into pieces

2 Tbsp water (depending on dough consistency)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, hand mix the toasted hazelnuts, sugar, baking powder, flour and chocolate.

In a smaller bowl, stir eggs and vanilla until blended.  Add to the flour mixture.  Throw in the blueberries and stir.  Flour your hands and start to work with the dough.  It will be very sticky, but, I promise you it will begin to come together.  (I added about 2 Tbsp of water to bring it together, however, this could be due to the altitude difference.)  Once that happens, form a ball, and cut in half.

After the mixing - almost ready

On a floured surface, roll one piece into a loaf shape about 12 inches long, 3 inches wide and 3/4 inch high.  Do the same with the remaining dough piece.  Place the "loaves" onto a baking sheet.  Brush with the beaten egg.

After baking for 40 minutes

Bake for 40 minutes, turning the baking sheet around halfway through.   The loaves should be a golden color.  Remove and cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.  Use a metal spatula to remove without breaking and slide them onto a cutting surface.  Use a serrated knife and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.   Each loaf should yield about 14 slices.  At this point you should "test" 2 and then you''ll  have an even dozen per loaf.  That's optional but highly advisable!  You're almost done.

Now, place the slices back onto a parchment covered baking sheet on their sides.  Reduce the oven to 200 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes to harden them.  I chose to only cook them for another 10 minutes.  I prefer them more on the chewier side vs. hard.  Remove from the oven, cool and then store in a tin or airtight container.  That way they'll keep for almost a month.

Tucked away in their tin.  They won't last a month around here!

I can't tell you how great these turned out.  You should have been there!

http://www.chocoley.com/
www.facebook.com/bestchocolate
www.twitter.com/chocolatesupply