Coconut or Cappuccino Biscotti

Like peanut butter and jelly, wine and cheese or green eggs and ham (ok, maybe not green eggs and ham), biscotti and cappuccinos just go together in my books. I could have my cappuccino without biscotti, but it just doesn’t seem right and most definitely not if I just have biscotti on its own, although I have tried (many times).

Biscotti is named such because of the baking process, where it is baked, cut in to individual slices and baked again, hence the bi- in the biscotti name. Due to its double baked nature, the cookie is harder and allows it to stand up well against the cappuccino. Since the biscotti requires the toughness in order for it to be dipped in caffeinated beverages, butter is not used as an ingredient thereby making it a “healthier” cookie option (but it still doesn’t justify wolfing down a whole lot of these).

The main reason I love biscotti is because of the mixture of espresso that it holds on to and the resulting crunch that ensues after each dip. I wanted to share that experience with you all, but not just the traditional biscotti recipe, which normally consists of almonds, but different things that I thought went well with coffee. I also found a great website, Joy of Baking that had a bunch of different biscotti recipes to try. Here are some of my favourites that I’ve adjusted to my own tastes, let me know what you guys think!


Ingredients:
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For Coconut biscotti:1 cup unsweetened coconut

For Cappuccino biscotti:
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tbsp espresso, cooled
1/2 tbsp milk



Preparation:1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

2) Combine the eggs and vanilla extract together

3) In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients (baking powder, flour, sugar)

4) Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, mix until it’s all combined.

5) Split the dough in to two even parts, to one part add in the coconut, to the second part add in the cappuccino biscotti ingredients. (If only making one flavour double the ingredients for that specific flavour, feel free to add in hazelnuts or almonds as well if you'd like more of a crunch or something more traditional)

6) On a lightly floured surface, roll out both pieces of dough until they’re log shaped, transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and slightly pat it down.

7) Bake in the oven for 30 mins, remove and cut each log into 2-3 cm pieces.

8) Place them back individually on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 mins

9) Rotate the pieces and bake for another 10 mins

10) Once they’re finished baking on both sides, remove them from the oven and let them cool. Store them in an air tight container and they can be stored for up to a month!