Cappuccino Biscotti: You Made That Dessert?

When I recieved an email from one of my favorite bloggers (CookiePie)who just also happens to be the food editor of AllYou Magazine, Beth Lipton, asking me if I would like to participate in an online book tour of her new cookbook "You Made That Dessert?" I immediately said YES! I love to bake and I love cookbooks. How could I say no? The opportunity just seemed to be too good to not take.

When the book came I could hardly wait to start looking through it. There are many desserts in the book that look so delicious and so easy to put together. Beth gives tips in this book for the new baker, but the most important one that she gives (and gives to you twice!) is read through the recipe completely before beginning. There are photos of each recipe in the book and it is divided by sections of cakes, cookies, puddings, pies, desserts....a fabulous book for the beginning baker!

I made a few different items from this cookbook, but the item I want to tell you about today is my favorite one I made so far. The Cappuccino Biscotti. Biscotti is one of my favorite cookies. I love to enjoy them with my tea. Another thing I love about this recipe that I made, I was able to mix it up a little bit to meet my needs (meaning my pantry was void of some ingredients) and I also was able to add to the recipe something else to make it special. ;-) While Beth says to put mini chocolate chips in the biscotti I used mini cinnamon chips. I would have used chocolate if I had it...but I didn't. Sometimes I like to decorate my biscotti by dipping it in chocolate or white chocolate. This time I mixed in some cinnamon with the white chocolate before dipping. Turned out great - however you don't need the dipping chocolate for these biscotti to be good. They are great on their own also!

After the recipe, make sure you check out the links to other bloggers who are doing the book tour with Beth!

Cappuccino Biscotti
You Made that Dessert? by Beth Lipton

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups (10.6 ounces) all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 Tablespoons hot tap water
8 Tablespoons unsalted, butter, softened
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt; stir with a fork to mix well. In a small cup, dissolve the instant espresso in hot water.
2. In a large bowl, using and electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a flexible spatula. Beat in the espresso mixture and the vanilla, then scrape down the bowl again. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir with the flexible spatula until the dough just comes together. This will take about a minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts until just incorporated.
3. Divide the dough in half (it doesn't have to be exact, but try to get the two pieces as close to even as you can), and place them both on the lined baking sheet. Shape both pieces into long, narrow logs, about 10 inches long by 3 inches wide, leaving some space between them, as they will spread a bit. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300.
4. When the logs are cool enough to handle, place one on a cutting board. Using serrated knife, carefully slice it on a slight diagonal into about 12 3/4-inch thick slices. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet (you can place them right up against each other, they won't spread anymore). Repeat with the other loaf. Bake the biscotti for 10 minutes, then take the baking sheet out of the oven. (leave the oven on0 and turn each cookie over. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake 10 minutes longer, until the biscotti are dry and crisp. Remove them from the baking sheet onto a wire rack and let cool.

Other blogs where you can find samples of Beth's recipes from her new cookbook:

Cookie Pie
The Recipe Girl
Two Peas and Their Pod
Baking Bites
Cookie Baker Lynn
Eat Me Delicious
Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy
Under the Highchair