Match Made in Heaven

I wish I could say I was one of those healthy women who only drink green tea and water all day long. Alas, although I do enjoy a tea with my sushi, I can't bring myself to drink it on a regular basis, because I am deeply in love with another...coffee! And behind every good cup of coffee, is a great piece of biscotti. My family can attest to the fact that I am baking biscotti on a weekly basis. Usually I hear complaints and protest because I bake with my favorite ingredient, crystallized ginger. This time to appease the masses, I swapped my usual recipe for a double chocolate one. It is so easy and much cheaper than buying it in a coffee shop and tastier too. I even brought some to work with me for my own coffee break.

I enjoy the control I have over the baking process. Most biscotti (I should say all) is double baked to achieve that hard, 'almost break your teeth trying to take a bite' consistency. However, my children do not appreciate the dunking quality this gives the cookie, so I only double bake for half the time to keep the biscotti soft for them.

You can modify this basic recipe to change the flavour to whatever your fancy desires.

2 cups flour (if you want a chocolate base use 1 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup cocoa)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Mix dry ingredients into large bowl and add flavours (ie. 2 tbsp minced crystallized ginger & 3/4 cup white chocolate - or use the cocoa/flour mix above and add 1/2 cup chocolate chips... the possibilities are endless)

Mix together wet ingredients below and add to dry in the bowl.
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract (I prefer to use real vanilla)

The dough will be dry and crumbly, but turn it out onto the counter and work with it to form a log (as pic shown above). Move log to baking pan topped with parchment paper. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Put on rack to cool for 15-20 minutes. Cut into 3/4 inch sections and place upright on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for another 15 minutes or so (depends how hard you want the cookie). By arranging the biscotti upright, you don't have to flip them half way through the double bake process.
Eat, dunk, love with your coffee.