Brownie Biscottis

Brownie Biscottis , Hershey's Cocoa, plus chocolate chips and nuts make these biscotti a delight to eat alone or accompanied by a cappuccino.

Biscottis are a twice-baked cake originating in the Italian city of Prato. The cakes are large almond biscuits, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still hot and fresh from baking in the oven.

My husband and I love these cookies, because they are not so sweet and can be served with a delicious coffee or eating alone and satisfy our need for something sweet, knowing that they are low in calories and full of flavor.

To make these biscottis, I use Hershey's cocoa, because it has a strong flavor of dark chocolate and Hershey's milk chocolate chips, so it is rich in chocolate but low in fat, since they carry little butter. If you can`t find this cocoa, you can use normal dark chocolate. I hope you like the recipe as much as we do.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

3 1/2 Tbsp of Hersheys Cocoa
3 eggs
3/4 cups sugar

3 Tbsp of butter
1 tsp vanilla extract 

4 Tbsp of Hersheys chocolate chips

1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts (optional)

Before starting to make the  biscottis preheat the oven to 180ºC and line the baking sheet with butter to prevent the dough sticking to it. 

Place the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar, nuts and cocoa in a bowl and combine with the eggs, vanilla and butter until well combined.  The mixture will be thick and sticky.

Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into 2 (9 by-3-inch) logs. Bake for 35 minutes until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick diagonal slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

They become more tender about 2 or 3 days stored in an airtight container. They keep for several weeks.