Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Biscotti

I'm enjoying the last few days of hustle and bustle around here as we get ready for the holidays. Lots of baking to do, lots of presents to wrap and all of the other preparations that go along with it. All three kids are in the house at the moment and I love every minute of it.

Without a doubt, baking Christmas Biscotti is on my list of things to do. When I had the bake shop I gave a ribbon wrapped bag of biscotti to every customer that came in on Christmas Eve. Even now I like to attach a little bag to the presents I give out. It's a great little gift and something that can be prepared well ahead of time. This one is a Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Biscotti. A twice baked batch of crunchy chocolate goodness full of Lindt Bittersweet chunks and drizzled with melted White Chocolate. Sprinkle some crushed candy cane on top and catapult yourself right to the top of the nice list!

This recipe is super chocolatey without being really sweet. These are definitely dunkers and I would put them in the extra-crispy category too. I always have some flavour of biscotti in the house and I've gotten into the habit of eating a piece or two with my tea after dinner.

Come to think of it, I usually keep a piece or two in my lunch bag too. And I often snag a piece to have with my coffee when I'm driving the boys to the hockey arena.

Geez Louise, I have a slight cookie and coffee addiction it seems.

I hope that you have a wonderful holiday, wherever you may be. I feel very lucky to have the time at home with my family and friends ~ and you! As always, thank you for another great blogging year. Your comments and support continues to amaze me.

Blessings for a great 2015!

Renee

Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Biscotti

*adapted from David Lebovitz- David does not use butter in his recipe, you can certainly omit it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of butter, melted
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks
• 4 oz. white chocolate for drizzle
• crushed peppermint candy canes to sprinkle on top

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Mix the chocolate chunks in by hand.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Divide the biscotti mix into two logs directly on the cookie sheet (you can just form one wide log if you want long cookies -about 6 inches wide). The logs should be 1.5 inches high and about 3 inches wide. If you wet your hands slightly it's easier to form and smooth out the dough. Make two even logs.

3. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 300 degrees. Let the biscotti cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a cutting board and cut the biscotti into slices (3/4 inch wide). A serrated knife works best. Place the cookies upright back on the cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2 and inch between each cookie. Bake them for an additional 30 minutes until crisp.

4. Melt the white chocolate over a bain marie. Drizzle the cooled biscotti with the melted chocolate and sprinkle with candy canes.

Enjoy!