Autumn is a wonderful time for heartfelt conversations over a cup of tea or coffee, especially when the weather outside is dreary. And what goes perfectly with tea or coffee? Cookies, of course! So today I'd like to remind you about Italian biscotti — no other cookie pairs better with these drinks. I used this (more classic) Biscotti recipe as my base and gave it a coffee twist. I used hazelnuts, but any nuts you have on hand will work beautifully — traditional biscotti almonds, walnuts, and even peanuts are all great choices. I also added cranberries and dark chocolate, and as everyone knows, chocolate makes everything better!). The result is a wonderful cookie — crisp, incredibly fragrant, with a subtle coffee aroma that isn't overpowering but definitely gives these biscotti their own irresistible charm!
Ingredients:
- 180 g flour (or less)
- 80 g sugar
- 50 g butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp instant coffee (level)
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- Mix-ins:
- 50 g nuts (I used hazelnuts)
- 50 g dried cranberries (raisins work too)
- 50 g chocolate (I used dark)
How to cook coffee biscotti with hazelnuts and cranberries
Beat the egg, sugar, salt, and softened butter together briefly (the mixture won't be completely smooth — that's fine).
Dissolve the coffee in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and stir thoroughly. Add the coffee to the bowl and beat a little more.
Whisk the flour together with the baking powder and, if desired, the cinnamon. Add the flour to the bowl and mix into a dough. The dough will be fairly dense but soft and pliable. You may need less than 180 g of flour, so don't add it all at once. I ended up using 150 grams this time.
Prepare all the mix-ins ahead of time. Toast the nuts lightly in a dry skillet or on a baking sheet in the oven. Remove the skins if needed — particularly for hazelnuts or peanuts. Walnuts and almonds don't need to be peeled. While whole hazelnuts look impressive in cross-section as you can see in my photos, I'd still recommend chopping them into large pieces beforehand, since whole hazelnuts made shaping the cookies a bit awkward. Chocolate is best chopped with a knife into large chunks. Add all the mix-ins to the dough and fold them in evenly.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half and roll each portion into a log about 30 cm long. Gently flatten each log. Place on the baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for no more than 5 minutes. Then use a sharp knife to carefully cut into slices on a slight diagonal (about 1–1.5 cm wide). Arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet and return to the oven.
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