Gingerbread Biscotti (with White Chocolate Icing)

A week ago I was part of a little cooking demonstration with ladies from our church. It was a fun, informal event, and the basic gist of the evening was that different women were asked to show how to make particular dishes.

One woman showed how to make THE pie crust (which I am so excited about trying, because all my pie crusts have been epic fails!), another how to decorate a cake using various tips, and still others on butter making, Bourbon Chicken, and Gyozias. It was so fascinating! Plus, our church ladies love to talk, so any spare minute we were busy chittering away. :)

My part of the evening was to talk about Making Biscotti. Since I’ve given a few biscotti recipes on this blog before (Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Spice) I thought I’d include a third recipe here, along with a few tips I gave that evening.

Let me just preface by saying it really did tickle me to be giving tips on making biscotti. My roots are European of various kinds, but Italian is not one of them. So basically I’m a work-horse German giving advice on an Italian treat. It’s kind of like an Italian giving a class on Amish cooking. Kind of humorous, right? :) But it really is amazing the various cultures of foods we have available to cook and eat in our modern day!

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This is quite possibly my favorite recipe. I created it several years ago, and although it could be seasonal during the winter, it’s also perfect anytime of the year.

Gingerbread Biscotti with white chocolate icing

 

The Ingredients For Gingerbread Biscotti:

 

Cream together until fluffy:

  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar

Then add:

  • 3 eggs, beating well after each addition
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup molasses

Sift together dry ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture,  then stir in:

  • 1 cup slivered almonds

 

Grease a jellyroll pan (which is slightly smaller than a cookie sheet). Divide dough in half. Using heavily floured hands, shape each half into a log form, and place on a jellyroll pan, on the shortest length of the pan. Continue to shape, making each log approximately 5 inches wide.

Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 35 minutes, or until the top is firm. Remove from the oven and cool, then cut each log into 1-inch slices using a sharp serrated knife or electric knife. Return to the oven and bake at 200 degree, or the lowest temperature, 7 hours or overnight Bake until completely dry. Cool, then frost with white chocolate icing (Ghirardelli melting chocolate).

 

 

Gingerbread Biscotti for a coffee party

 

A few pointers:

Many people are scared of making biscotti and think them intimidating and difficult. Let me just say: biscotti may take some time to make, but the truth is – they are really very easy. If you can pull out a mixer and put ingredients together, you can make biscotti. The twice-baking is what makes biscotti unique from many other cookies or specialty baked items.

In the recipe, there are a few basic instructions that factor into the biscotti of your dreams. :)


1. Softened butter vs. melted butter: This makes a difference in the final texture of the dough, making a soft dough rather than a watery texture.

2. Beating each egg well: Beating each egg well helps with dough elasticity, resulting in a final product that holds together well and isn’t crumbly/doesn’t break apart. Often homemade biscotti tends to fall or crumble apart, and it may be because of this small step.

3. The log size: Remember that the dough rises because of the baking powder, so be sure to spread the log wide (about 5 inches) rather than short and fat. The final product will look bigger than the pre-baked log on the pan.

4.  The slow baking times: I do not recommend a baking time of higher than 300* for the first baking, and 200* for the second. Of course, it’s very possible to bake at a high temperature the whole way through for both baking times and have a finished product much faster. However, I have a theory [and it’s only my own theory, but it has held true for me]: a fast baking, whether in biscotti, granola, or a few other things results in a bit of a “burnt” taste in the final product. Yes, it is finished faster, but there is a hint of a burnt flavor. A SLOW baking time, in my opinion, not only doesn’t have the look of the dark edges, but it also seems to enhance the flavors of what it being baked. A bite into a slow-baked biscotti, such as gingerbread, and you will be able to taste the ginger, the molasses, and maybe even some of the other spices. The flavor is incredibly richer. The overnight baking at the very lowest temperature your oven will do (180 or so) is what I’ve found to be perfect.5.

5. The melting chocolate. A friend recently introduced me to the Ghirardelli melting chocolate, which is amazing in and of itself. If you’ve worked with melting white chocolate chips before, you know that sometimes it turns out perfectly and other times it’s a sticky hard lump that you can hardly spread with a knife! The melting wafers are amazing. It’s the perfect melted consistency which you can then pour into a condiment bottle and use to drizzle on the icing. Melting instructions of various kinds are even on the back of the packaging.

the best melting chocolate

frosting Gingerbread Biscotti

So there is my favorite recipe and all the  things I’ve learned by trial and error tricks up my sleeve. Hopefully it will help someone out. :)

Enjoy!

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12 Replies to “Gingerbread Biscotti (with White Chocolate Icing)”

  1. She’s the queen of biscotti . . . German work horse or no German work horse. I’ll take advice from you on Italian treats any day. :) Looking forward to trying this, I think. But I’m soooooooo dangerous with anything GINGER. How am I ever supposed to get my waistline back with THIS stuff in the house!!?? Either way, I’ll have to try them . . . Husband loves when the canister in the kitchen contains treats like these to go with his morning coffee.

  2. They look beautiful and delicious! Abigail has made biscotti before but it always gets eaten before it gets to the crunchy state!

  3. Ahhhh….Biscotti. I am now deciding if I want to make some right now or not…decisions decisions.
    Your Italian treats are beautiful! {this coming from an Italian ;) }
    Thanks for sharing your recipes!

    Happy Day to you Clarita!
    XxOo

  4. It is delicious!! One of these days I’m going to try it. :) And yes, it was a chittering evening. I like your word. :)

  5. That sounds like a wonderful ladies evening! I love gingerbread and am excited to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing it.

  6. I’ve always been intimated by the thought of making biscotti. but I think you’ve just given me the courage to try!

  7. Baking this stuff up right now. The batter tastes good . . . Wish me luck in the self control dept when this stuff is baked and ready to go. Oh and I just read your sloooow baking tips at the end of the post again and laughed because Phil has Eman coming over this morning for business related things in about half an hour. He told Eman that I’ll have eggs and biscotti ready for them. The biscotti was still in batter form at the time of that message being sent. I might be great in the kitchen, but I’ve never been known to to be able to reduce baking time from 7 hours down to half an hour. Any suggestions!!?? I guess they can eat soft once-baked biscotti this morning if they please!

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