Chocolate-Cherry Pecan Biscotti
FROM SUBSTACK
Last year I almost didn’t include biscotti in the lineup of cookie content I shared to my site, afraid they wouldn’t have enough WOW factor. But I decided that they were so tasty and “craveable” (the word I look to hear from my husband, Steve—who is my main taster—as proof that a recipe has reached peak perfection), that I had to. And WOW. Much to my surprise, the recipe was incredibly popular, so I decided to create a new version for this year’s cookie collection.
My take on this favorite Italian cookie is a bit more jam-packed than the classic, which is often studded with a few nuts or maybe chocolate chips. I love to go a little “extra” with my biscotti, packing in as much good stuff as I can to make them really nubby, nutty, chewy, and bursting with flavor!
Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cup/224g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons powdered ginger
3 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa
1 cup/160g “grand” semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup/150g dried cherries
2 cups/198g pecan halves, divided
1/2 cup/101g granulated sugar
1/2 cup/110g dark brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
2 large eggs
1 large egg, separated
Sugar in the Raw, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, powdered ginger, and cocoa powder. Whisk well to combine thoroughly.
Toss in the chocolate chips, the cherries, and 1 ¼ cups/124g pecans, and mix.
Combine remaining scant 3/4 cup/74g pecans and the granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground.
Add the sugar mixture to a medium bowl, then add the brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla, 2 eggs, and egg yolk (set the egg white aside for later). Whisk together until smooth. Scrape into the large bowl containing the dry ingredients and use a sturdy spoon or rubber spatula to stir together until it forms a mass.
Knead together with floured hands in the bowl to make sure everything is well mixed, then turn out on a generously floured surface. Use a bench scraper or a knife to cut the dough into two equal portions and roll each one, again using floured hands, into a thick log about 8 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Carefully transfer the logs to a parchment-lined baking sheet (setting them parallel to the short edge). Brush the tops of the logs with the reserved egg white, then sprinkle generously with raw sugar.
Place baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the center feels firm when you press it gently. The bottom edges will be golden brown. Let the logs cool on the baking sheets just until cool enough to handle, about 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
Using a sharp bread knife, slice the biscotti about 1/2-inch thick, on a slight angle, and lay them flat on the baking sheet, close together. (They should all fit on one baking sheet.) Return baking sheet to the oven to toast and dry out, for about 10 minutes per side. Cool completely before packing them in an airtight container. They will stay fresh for at least a week and can be frozen for longer.
TIPS
This recipe uses a total of about 8 ounces of pecans. Typically, 8-ounce bags and canisters are available in the baking section of your supermarket.
The recipe tastes great as is with 1 ½ teaspoons powdered ginger, but if you want a spicier cookie, increase that amount to 2 teaspoons, and/or add 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger.
I like to use the “Grand” semisweet chocolate chips for these so that the pockets of chocolate are larger. Ghirardelli makes them—they can be found in the baking section of most supermarkets. Some other chocolate chips are larger too, like Ghirardelli’s bittersweet chips. I feel through the bag to tell which are which!
Dried cherries used to be a specialty item that was sometimes hard to find, but I’m glad to see them being sold more widely lately with the other dried fruit in bags, usually in the produce section!
These biscotti are a bit crumblier to cut than some recipes because of the mix-ins. Take your time, use a nice sharp bread knife, and let the knife do the work. Use long, sawing motions, and avoid crushing down into the cookie loaf. If your bread knife isn’t working well, try a sharp chef’s knife.
If you happen to have an electric knife, it works superbly here. I bought one during the pandemic to more easily slice my fresh sourdough loaves (don’t judge me!). Again, let the knife do the work, using only light, downward pressure.
Also to help with slicing: It’s important to let the biscotti “loaves” cool enough, but not too much. I find about 10 to 15 minutes of cooling to be the sweet spot!
Sugar in the Raw is a brand name for turbinado sugar and is the most commonly found option in supermarkets (you can even find packets of it at Starbucks!). Some recipes call for demerara sugar, which is basically the same thing (so you can use that if it’s what you have in your pantry). If you don’t already have either, I highly recommend investing in a box of Sugar in the Raw. It’s great for adding a little sparkle and crunch to many cookie recipes and can stand in for decorative sanding sugar too.
Don’t be afraid to be generous with the flour when forming the logs—you can always brush off any excess using a dry pastry brush later. Your bench scraper (you’ve got one, right?) is your friend here. Use it to scrape off your surface if it gets sticky (then re-flour), to divide the dough, and even to help you form the logs. The dough might seem sticky and unmanageable at first, but it will start to cooperate. Stick with it and re-flour as needed!
If you have a large cooling rack like this one, you don’t have to turn the biscotti during the second bake since the hot air can circulate underneath; just bake for 15 minutes total. Just set the rack directly inside the baking sheet you just used.
I don’t call for toasting the nuts in this recipe, because, well, it’s an extra step. Plus, the nuts do toast somewhat while they are baking. But for an even better flavor, toast the pecans before using them. You can do so by baking them in a flat layer for about 8 minutes at 350°F. Make sure to let them cool before using.
