Double-Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

The loud crunching emanating from the kitchen was the surest evidence that somebody had discovered the pan of chocolate pecan biscotti cooling on the counter. Biscotti are difficult to eat stealthily. According to food writer Dorie Greenspan, “Crunch is to sweets what a bold spice is to a savory dish: a culinary speed bump — as soon as you hit it, you slow down and focus.” These crispy treats will certainly command your attention from the first bite, with the deep, dark, rich flavor of Dutch cocoa punctuated with mini chocolate chips and pieces of sweet, nutty, buttery pecans. The recipe for these chocolate pecan biscotti is from Tish Boyle, author of ten dessert books, including The Good Cookie.

Double-Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

Recently a friend asked me for a recipe for biscotti, specifically made with oil, as she doesn’t use butter or margarine. According to food expert Chris Kimball of Milk Street, “Oil and butter often are interchangeable in savory cooking, but the swap isn’t as simple when baking. For biscuits, scones and pie pastry, in which cold, solid butter is cut into dry ingredients, oil is a poor substitute because the dry ingredients would absorb the oil, yielding sodden dough. In recipes in which the butter is creamed, oil is not an appropriate substitute because it cannot trap and hold air the way softened butter can. However baked goods made with melted butter (where the butter simply is whisked with other ingredients, and rise depends on either baking powder, baking soda, beaten egg whites or a combination), oil is a reasonable substitute.” With this knowledge, exchanging oil for butter or margarine in biscotti, seemed like an excellent idea because using oil would not diminish the crunchy texture of these cookies or prevent their minimal rise.

This recipe for chocolate pecan biscotti calls for ½ cup of butter. Keeping in mind that most American butter consists of just 80% fat, and the other 20% is made up of about 5% milk solids and 15% water, whereas oil is comprised of 100% fat, I substituted 6 tablespoons of oil for the butter when I made this recipe. The resulting biscotti were light and crispy, with a deep, satisfying chocolate flavor, that was even more pronounced than the flavor of the same biscotti made with margarine. So when baking biscotti, feel free to substitute the suggested amount of butter in a recipe with  3/4 the amount of oil. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons), use 6 tablespoons of oil. And when you snack on these crunchy twice-baked confections, don’t bother trying to keep your noshing a secret. It won’t be.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. and line a large baking pan with parchment paper.  Mix together the dry ingredients. Set them aside. Chop the pecans into coarse pieces using a knife and measure out the chocolate chips. Reserve. Using an stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, combine the oil and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and scrape the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are well blended. Stop the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients at once and pulse with an on-off motion about 10 times, to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

Divide the dough into two pieces approximately the same size and place the pieces of dough on the lined baking sheet. Wet your hands with water and shape the dough into two logs approximately 12 inches long. With the palm of your hand flatten the logs of dough until they are about 2 1/2 inches wide. Brush the top of each log with an egg that has been beaten very slightly with a teaspoon of water. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (turbinado sugar or raw sugar). Bake for 30 minutes. 

Allow the loaves to cool for about 30 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F. Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting surface. Using a serrated knife, cut each log on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange the slices cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake at 300 F. for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven and allow them to cool completely before transferring to an airtight resealable container. These cookies keep well when stored at room temperature.

Print Recipe

Double-Chocolate Pecan Biscotti

Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Desserts

By Tish Boyle, The Good Cookie – Serves: 30

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 30 minutes +15 minutes – Total Time: 55 minutes

Crisp biscotti with the deep, dark, rich flavor of Dutch cocoa, punctuated with mini chocolate chips and pieces of sweet, nutty, buttery pecans

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped coarsely
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• Topping
• 1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
• 3 tablespoons of coarse sugar such as turbinado sugar or raw sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. I used a 15 X 21 inch baking sheet. If your baking sheet is smaller, use 2 baking sheets.

2

Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside. Measure out the pecans and chop into coarse pieces using a knife. Measure out the chocolate chips. Reserve both ingredients.

3

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the oil with the sugar, at medium speed until well blended.

4

Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

5

Shut off the mixer. Add the dry ingredients. Pulse with an on-off motion until the dry ingredients are no longer visible (about 10 times). Stir in the reserved pecans and chocolate chips.

6

Divide the dough in half and wetting your hands with water, shape each half into a log about 12 by 2 1/2 inches right on the parchment lined-baking sheet(s). Brush the top of each log with the egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar or raw sugar. Bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes on the middle rack in the oven.

7

Remove the baking pan and allow the biscotti logs to cool for 30 minutes on a cooling rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F. Carefully transfer each biscotti log to a cutting surface and slice on the diagonal into pieces 1/2 inch wide. Place the pieces of biscotti cut-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the biscotti to rest until completely cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.