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Dreaming Of Mandelbrot & Making Brownie Biscotti

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Before I forget (which I say because I already did once and am now revising this post), I have updated pictures for you.

 

  
What a mud pit!  I am rather terrified when I think of living without a lawn until spring with 3 large (and 1 of them geriatric) dogs.  Thanks goodness we have a fair bit of land, with fields to run in once you get beyond the mud.  Here’s to hoping the ground freezes in southwest Ohio this year!
OK this is probably my favorite part of the new kitchen.  But stay tuned–I could change my mind. 🙂
 
These are 2 good shots (that I cannot get to center) of the bookshelves and microwave cabinet I was referring to in an earlier post.  That is not our microwave in there yet.  I LOVE the bookshelves–for a cookbook collector like me, it is a dream come true to have them in my kitchen.
OK so most of you don’t care about pulls.  But some of you do, I know it.  So for those who do, here are the handles we used in the kitchen.
And here are the knobs….
 
Anyway back to food…
I cannot get those darn mandelbrot out of my head.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not regret giving any of them away.  What I do regret though is that apparently cappuccino chips are not a readily available commodity–I must usually get them when I am down in the city.  But it is not really worth the gas for them alone, so I have mail ordered some and in the meantime I decided to try these biscotti.
I have been meaning to try these biscotti for a while, ever since HoneyB made them over at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch.  They particularly struck my fancy, because I have always wanted to find a chocolate biscotti that appealed to me–but I am not that wild about nuts (at least not ground up with chocolate).  Because nuts are traditional in biscotti it is darn difficult to find them without nuts (these did have nuts, but not ground, so they were easily replaced with more chocolate)!  So as soon as I saw these I knew I would be making them.  Although the recipe is originally from allrecipes.com, check here to see how HoneyB’s came out.
I made a few changes to the recipe.  Mine came out shorter than HoneyB’s–maybe partially because I made 2 logs, not one.  I added a bit more vanilla, a little instant espresso, coarse grey sea salt and I used all bittersweet chocolate chips, which I chopped down a bit.  Next time I would try semi sweet as I think I could stand for the biscotti to come out a bit sweeter.

Brownie Biscotti
Adapted from HoneyB (see above) and allrecipes.com

1/3 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

1/2 t coarse grey sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used natural, Scharffen Berger)
2 t baking powder
1/4 t instant espresso
3/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped roughly (or use miniature)
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 T water

coarse grey sea salt for sprinkling on log before baking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and sea salt. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, instant espresso and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Divide dough into two equal parts and shape them into 9x2x1 inch logs directly on the baking sheet, about 4 inches apart. Brush them with a mixture of water and yolk. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm.  If your oven is uneven (mine is) be sure to rotate front to back halfway through.  Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.  Reduce heat to 325 F.

Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them upright. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until dry. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Comments

  1. HoneyB says

    I love what you did to the recipe! I’ll have to try you version now – and will of course, have to share with Kristina!

    Reply

  4. anudivya says

    Brownie and biscotti in one! Seems like my dream thing!… I like that one lone biscotti on the top balance the way it did.

    Reply

  6. Anonymous says

    The house looks great!! (And so do the biscotti…mine have not been turning out too well for me this week. 🙁 ) I’m so excited for you guys!!

    Leila

    Reply

  8. Kristen says

    You all are making some serious progress on your house!
    Is that a desk in there too, between the bookshelves (which is like heaven on earth… so jealous!).
    Love the drawer pulls too – very pretty!

    Reply

  10. Anonymous says

    Those biscotti look great. I was thinking of making the DOUBLE CHOCOLATE WALNUT BISCOTTI from Gourmet that has been mentioned a couple of times on the CLBB.

    But then I saw this….. such decisions.

    Great pics — you would laugh if you saw how small my apartment kitchen is. Storage, what’s that.

    Reply

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