So why the sudden post today? Well, it's not often that you have great recipe success while simultaneously (1) using a new ingredient and (2) trying someone else's recipe and (3) not really following that recipe to the letter. Today I made these cute little biscotti bites by taking great inspiration from the blog Climbing Grier Mountain from this cookie post.
I also was pretty psyched today because the husband and I installed a new faucet in our kitchen sink and it is spectacular. It was only logical that I should 'dirty up' one of the largest bowls in our kitchen, just to see how much better my life was going to be from now on.
A couple of changes from Lauren's recipe (less butter, which is traditional for biscotti; less cornmeal since the kind I had in the pantry was not very finely ground; and swapping in chickpea flour to be one of the starches). I have never used chickpea flour in anything before, and I bought it for a vegan recipe I plan to make later this week. One MAJOR caveat to using the chickpea flour in this dough: The cookie dough will not taste great while unbaked. It will have an off-putting, raw-bean flavor to it, and I did not find it very appetizing. In fact, I was worried about how the cookies would turn out, but thankfully this flavor gets completely "baked out" after the cookies are done. Yay!
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
- 3/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
- 1/2 to 3/4 dark chocolate chips
For a quick ganache, use 3 oz dark chocolate and 1/4 cup half-and-half.
Directions:
Mix your dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, then set aside. Using a mixer (I used my KitchenAid stand mixer with the paddle attachment), cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2 -3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients in, about one-third of the mix each time. Once the batter is fairly incorporated, add the coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Mix until the chocolate chips and coconut is evenly distributed, then turn off your mixer and remove the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Start rolling the dough (about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons at a time) into small balls, and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Alternatively, you could spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray if you did not have any parchment paper. The cookies will spread a little bit, so try to leave an inch or more between each ball of dough. Bake 17 - 20 minutes until lightly browned. Scoop the cookies onto a wire rack and let them cool completely before dunking in the ganache.
For the ganache, heat the half-and-half in the microwave until you see little bubbles that indicate it is boiling. Add the chocolate pieces to the hot half-and-half and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes, then whisk until smooth. You may need to let the ganache cool for 5 - 10 minutes before dunking the cookies; you do not want it to be too hot and runny. Dip each cookie so it is half-covered in the ganache and allow to cool on waxed paper or more parchment paper. Sprinkle the chocolate side with leftover coconut, if desired.
Enjoy!
Here's before the ganache:
And after:
It's amazing how just a little dip in chocolate makes them both professional-looking and adorable.
