White Chocolate Chip Almond Chocolate Biscotti

I don't know what it is about biscotti, but people always seem really impressed when I bring it somewhere. Maybe it's the Italian name, or the twice baked-ness. Whatever it is, biscotti is always greeted with an awed 'ooo' from the crowd.

I found my go-to chocolate biscotti recipe on all-recipes, believe it or not. I've made the Double Chocolate Biscotti numerous times, though in all previous cases I turned up my nose at white chocolate (I mean, it's not even real chocolate!) and subbed in some ridiculously dark bittersweet chocolate instead. This time though, I wanted a change. And with my new found love of almonds, that was the first change I made.

White Chocolate Chip Almond Chocolate Biscotti
makes about 18 pieces

1/2 cup butter - softened
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 3/4 c flour
4 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 c slivered almonds

semi sweet chocolate for dipping (I melted a whole bag of chips, but
didn't need nearly that much, probably half a bag would do)
white chocolate for drizzle (I melted... less than a cup of chips)

First off, cream the butter and sugar. 

Once that is all light and fluffy, mix in the cocoa powder and baking powder. 

After that, beat in the eggs one at a time.

Now add in the flour and mix until combined.

The last step in the dough making, mix in the white chocolate chips and almond slivers.

Chill the dough for at least ten minutes, you can let the oven preheat to 375 during this time. The dough will be fairly sticky at this point, so chilling it will help out a lot when you get to the next step.

Once the dough is nice and chilled we will shape the dough into 2 roughly nine inch logs. Space them out evenly on a cookie sheet, and flatten them a bit. They'll expand some but not crazy amounts.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the biscotti cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack where you should let them cool completely, about an hour.

Set the oven to preheat to 325 degrees. While this is going on you'll want to cut the biscotti. Cut slices 3/4 to an inch thick on a diagonal. The farther away from a straight up and down slice, the longer the pieces of biscotti will be. For biscotti beginners I would recommend starting with shorter slices, as it can be a bit crumbly at this stage.

Bake for 9 minutes, flip the biscotti and bake for another 7 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack. 

Melt the semisweet chocolate, I use a double boiler but use whatever method you prefer. Dip one edge of the biscotti in chocolate and let chill in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened.

Melt the white chocolate, again, however you are most comfortable. Drizzle over the biscotti with a spoon. I found white chocolate to be a bit more temperamental than the semisweet so be careful not to overheat. I'd recommend that once about 2/3 is melted, take the chocolate off the heat and stir until the rest is melted in.