Good enough to just lick off a spoon, but Nutella also works well in biscotti!

We wanted to send an edible gift in hopes of lifting the spirits of a friend who lost someone dear to them - earlier this week I made a batch of these Nutella Biscotti that Jeff and I thought would be sturdy enough to make it.

I found the recipe in my cookie pile of recipes to-try, but apparently forgot to mark down where it came from. After a little research, I finally figured out where I got it - Nic @ Baking Bites. I remembered reading about it on her site and don't know why it took me so long to try it out!

Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread that is dangerous to have around (especially with a lone spoon in reach), along with a couple tablespoons of slightly bitter natural cocoa powder give this biscotti dough a very dark color. I did use a bit of whole-wheat pastry flour, but as usual, you can use entirely all-purpose flour if you wanted. To add another dark layer of chocolate-y goodness (Jeff's words...), a handful of chopped bittersweet is also tossed in.

I found the mixture to be quite sticky and a little wet, which some biscotti dough is certainly known for, so keep your hands floured when worthing with it. Usually I would just keep my hands moist to keep it from sticking, but I thought the extra flour wouldn't hurt this dough. If you find floury spots on the dough when you transfer it onto the baking sheets, do be sure to brush any excess off before you bake them.

After cooling a bit from the first bake, lightly spritz the tops of the loaves with water - this will slightly soften the outer crust just enough to make slicing easier and make them not crumble as much. For the second bake, you'll want to let them go long enough to begin drying them out - the edges will crisp up, but the centers may still be a little soft after you take them out of the oven. As the dark slices cool on a baking rack, those centers will crisp up and become crunchy, yet not rock hard, leaving you with the option to dunk or not! If you really want to highlight the flavor from the Nutella, a handful (1/2 cup or so) of toasted, skinned and chopped hazelnuts would be a fantastic addition when you add in the chunks of bittersweet chocolate.

Recipes

Nutella Biscotti