Once-baked Biscotti

I want to help you get ready for Super Bowl XLVIII.

I want you to easily make lots of this to take to where you will be watching the game.

I want you to bake something only once!

I want you to transport this offering with no worry (even if you have to brake hard along the way and everything slides forward).

I want you to have something that freezes well because you will have more than you need for the SB.

I want you to play a bit with your food.

This is what I want for you.

This biscotti recipe is so very easy and makes so very many.  If you like dessert as much as I do, then I must share what we both know:  The bonus about being drawn to small indulgences like cookies, bars, candy, etc. is that there is enough for the event and enough to freeze for later.  Heads up...I rarely bake without myself in mind (sorry if that sounds a bit selfish).

What is remarkable about these biscotti is that I only baked them once!  Their small size accounts for the ability to crisp up.

I used a bar of Lindt Dark Chili Chocolate in the dough (finely chopped) and the same on some of the bottoms (melted).

Also, I rolled the biscotti dough into thin logs, refrigerated them, and then cut them into dozens of pieces in no time. Pre-baking decorations were multi-colored jimmies and coarse sugar.  After baking, I dipped some of the bottoms into the leftover, melted Lindt chocolate.

Pay no attention to the amount of sweetened shredded coconut in this recipe.  Its contribution is texture and crispness.  The biscotti neither taste of coconut nor are they cloyingly sweet.  Any lingering finish belongs to the chili chocolate speaking gently to you.

Recipe for Bunch of Biscotti
adapted from Martha Stewart's Biscotti Bites
Yield:  over 100 bite-sized cookies

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4/ cups cornmeal
3/4 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons citrus zest (I used zest from one Minneola orange)
One 3.5 ounce bar of Chili Chocolate
Coarse sugar and jimmies for decorating

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.
2.  In a bowl, whisk together self-rising flour and cornmeal.  Set aside.
3.  Beat butter in a mixer on medium until smooth.  Add sugar and continue mixing until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
5.  Add flour mixture, lower the speed, and beat until combined.
6.  Beat in coconut, zest, and 2 ounces of the chopped chocolate until evenly mixed.  The dough will be sticky.
7.  Flour a surface, and taking a handful of the dough, roll the dough into logs about one inch in diameter.  The length of the log and how many logs you make will depend upon how much dough you pick up.  I had about 8 or 9 logs. Continue in this manner until all the dough is used.
8. Set the logs on saran wrap and roll up.  I tried to roll more than one log into a piece of saran.
9. Refrigerate for an least 30 minutes and longer if you want.  (I made biscotti from logs that were in the refrigerator for two days!)
10.  Take a log(s) from the refrigerator and unwrap.  Use a knife to cut one-inch sections along the length of the log.  Press one of the cut sides into sugar or jimmies and then set onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, each piece about an inch apart.
11.  Bake, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through, until golden, around 18-20 minutes.  Let cool completely on baking sheet set on a wire rack.
12.  Gently melt the remaining chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave.  Dip the bottoms of cooled biscotti in chocolate, scraping off excess with a knife, and setting on parchment paper to harden.