Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti

Mommy Diva's Note:

A great way to enjoy your chocolate and work on dropping a dress size! Recipe deom the show Cook Yourself Thin....looks delicious! I plan to try these out and possibly make them for my holiday baskets! **Cook time does not include 15 minute wait/cool time between cookings.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 18

Yield: 1.5 dozen

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup almonds , finely ground
• 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1⁄3; cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1⁄3; cup dried cranberries
• chocolate , Melted for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat egg and sugar with a handheld or standing mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture. Beat until no traces of flour remain. Stir in cranberries. The dough will be very wet and sticky.
4. Scrape the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, forming a thick line in the center. Wet your hands and pat dough into a 9-x-3-inch rectangle. Bake until puffed and dry to the touch, about 25 minutes. Cool on pan for 15 minutes; keep oven on. Peel off parchment and carefully transfer rectangle to a cutting board. Cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices.
5. Lay slices flat on unlined baking sheet, and bake until dry, about 10 minutes. Flip slices and bake for 10 minutes more. Let cool completely. Cookies will crisp as they cool.
6. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired.

Reviews

[Annacia]

This is certainly one of the best biscotti recipes that I have tried in a long while. I used very dark cocoa and replaced the almonds with hazelnuts only because I had ground hazelnuts already on hand. We loved the cranberry addition and I'm wondering how frozen cranberries would work here...might have to try that in the future! Yummmm :D

[Sydney Mike]

Made your recipe as given here (except that I dipped instead of drizzled at the end) & this chocoholic who's got a fixation for cranberries had A VERY NICE FLAVOR TREAT, but then, I also am a nut for biscotti, so . . . Definitely will be making this recipe again & again over the winter holidays, especially! [Tagged, made & reviewed as part of my Chocoholic! Need a Fix! theme in the current My 3 Chefs tag]