These biscotti bites are a very happy recent discovery of mine! Picture biscotti that does not need to be twice-baked, and in round, bite-size form. This is a fun, easy, and very delicious way to take a twist on classic biscotti (which I love).
I found the idea for these biscotti bites from Martha Stewart Living's Jan/Feb 2014 issue. It really caught my eye given my love for biscotti so I promptly ripped the recipe out...and then left it to languish in my "things to cook" folder for over a year. I meant to try it during Christmas but it didn't happen but 'better late than never' certainly applies here!
There's so much I love about these cookies. Taste - first of all, they're delicious! In my case, I went with one of my favorite biscotti flavor combinations, pistachio and orange. The original recipe is made with shredded coconut and grapefruit zest so you can see how you could very much customize the flavor to your liking. The original recipe has chocolate bits in the cookie itself as well as a chocolate coating at the base but I choose to only dip mine when it comes to the chocolate. Once in a while, I like to practice restraint when it comes to chocolate. In all seriousness, I think the thin layer of bittersweet chocolate at the bottom of these cookies is enough to add richness and to complement the orange zest and pistachios. The cookies are good even without the chocolate.
Texture is another key thing we need to talk about because I think taste and texture go hand in hand in making this a great package. I don't normally make biscotti with butter but I see the appeal after this. There's just enough butter in this recipe to soften the cookies to the liking of the majority of people (I think most prefer a softer texture than I do). More interestingly, there's ground cornmeal in the cookies to give it a grittiness and coarse texture that you associate with biscotti. It's like a little shortcut to the biscotti texture without having to bake them twice.
As someone to loves to bake, I don't necessarily mind the steps needed to make traditional biscotti so the real selling point for me here was just how tasty these are! The texture is firm and crunchy but not too hard, the cornmeal adds a lovely element of texture, and there's plenty of flavor and richness from the pistachios, orange, and thin chocolate coating. I highly recommend this to any biscotti fans looking for a fun, easy, tasty twist to the typical!
Customize it! I suggest you play with the add-in's and flavor these biscotti bites to your liking like I did. I went with pistachios and orange zest here and the original recipe had the unusual combination of shredded coconut, grapefruit zest, and chopped chocolate. Think almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, dried fruit, candied ginger...whatever your favorite biscotti combination might be. There are so many possibilities!
You could also size these biscotti bites to your liking. I think it works best no bigger than the size I made them (slightly larger than a tablespoon's worth) but you could go smaller if you want to serve them along with other desserts or to a large number of people. We all know everyone loves miniature treats!
One bake in the oven for about 20 minutes and the cookies are done. They come out much as they went in. They taste great as is but a little dip in chocolate makes them look and taste all the better.
I only needed about 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate to dip my batch of 18 of these biscotti bites. I used 70% bittersweet chocolate. Since you're essentially not cooking the chocolate, you'll really taste what you use so go with a chocolate you love. I brought out the Scharffen Berger for this; I love the sharp fruity flavor of it.
Since I was using chocolate as opposed to a candy melt, I made sure to carefully/gently melt my small amount of chocolate. I put 3/4 of it in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water and stirred it until just melted. I took it immediately off the heat and stirred in the rest of the chocolate until smooth. This worked quite well and I did not have an issue with bloom (those gray streaks you often see with untempered chocolate). Once the chocolate sets, you can store them in an airtight container in a cool place.
I served these at a weekend brunch as a little something sweet to end our meal. They were a hit and I'm thrilled to make this cookie discovery. I hope you try it so you'll know what I mean. They were surprisingly buttery and rich, despite having just 3 tablespoons of butter distributed among the 18 cookies. There's a lot of flavor in these bites, and for a chocoholic like me, the thin layer of bittersweet chocolate just wraps it all up beautifully.
Recipe:
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| I'm really fond of the cornmeal in this cookie dough |
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| Scooped into rounds using a small ice cream scoop, a little over a tablespoon full |
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| Biscotti bites baked once and done |
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| Let the dipped biscotti bites chill in the fridge for about half an hour until chocolate sets |
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| Chocolate is set and ready to be eaten or packed up; these babies are delicious! |
Recipe:
Pistachio-Orange Biscotti Bites
Adapted from Martha Stewart
- Makes approximately 18 rounded tablespoon-size cookies -
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup toasted pistachios
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together.
Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-speed until smooth. Add sugar and orange zest, and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Add pistachios and mix until just distributed.
Using a small ice cream scoop (about a tablespoon or so), drop rounds of dough spaced 1-inch apart onto a parchment or silicon-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway, until cookies are golden, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet set on a wire rack.
For the chocolate dip, set chocolate over a bowl of barely simmering water and stir until chocolate is just melted (to avoid over-heating the chocolate which could create bloom or gray streaks in the coating later, I melt 3/4 of the chocolate, remove it from the heat and stir in the rest until just smooth). Transfer the melted chocolate into a small bowl. Dip the bottoms of each cooled cookie in the chocolate, lightly scraping off the excess against the rim of the bowl (you want just a thin layer). Set cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until chocolate is set. Once set, you can place cookies into an airtight container in a cool spot.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
- Makes approximately 18 rounded tablespoon-size cookies -
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest of one orange
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup toasted pistachios
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
In a medium-size bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together.
Place butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-speed until smooth. Add sugar and orange zest, and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Add pistachios and mix until just distributed.
Using a small ice cream scoop (about a tablespoon or so), drop rounds of dough spaced 1-inch apart onto a parchment or silicon-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway, until cookies are golden, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet set on a wire rack.
For the chocolate dip, set chocolate over a bowl of barely simmering water and stir until chocolate is just melted (to avoid over-heating the chocolate which could create bloom or gray streaks in the coating later, I melt 3/4 of the chocolate, remove it from the heat and stir in the rest until just smooth). Transfer the melted chocolate into a small bowl. Dip the bottoms of each cooled cookie in the chocolate, lightly scraping off the excess against the rim of the bowl (you want just a thin layer). Set cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until chocolate is set. Once set, you can place cookies into an airtight container in a cool spot.
