12 Days of Baking ~ Day 4

A bit of delay going from day 3 to day 4, huh?!  Well, that's what happens when one of your 4 favorite people in all the world has a birthday in December!  Now birthdays are done and it's time to be all about Christmas!

Day 4 is a new treat to me.  I saw this recipe and had to try it.  I must admit, until I made these yesterday, I have never eaten a piece of biscotti in all my life!  To me they have always looked like a dried out, stale cookie.  And I tend to go for the ooey-gooey-melty type of cookie.  But these intrigued me, and with our bone-chilling weather (8 degrees last night!), having something to dunk into a hot drink just seemed to call my name.

And, it gave me a chance to try these:  Hershey's Dark Chocolate Mint Truffle Kisses.  Oh, my.  They are a seasonal candy, so go snatch some up soon.  Mint green bag, and the kisses themselves are wrapped in green foil with white snowflakes.  I love everything about them.  The way they are dressed, the way they smell, they way they look so cute when you cut them in half, the way the taste, and the way they bake into yummy things.  So Christmas-y!

And my first time with biscotti did not disappoint!  It was too late last night to try it with something hot, so I dunked a piece in milk and it was...lovely.  The kids loved it.  I loved it.  Brad would prefer I didn't bake it the second time, but I'm removing him from my statistical data and calling it a homerun.  I never claimed to have scientific integrity.

So, here you have it for Day 4:

Mint Truffle Chocoholic Biscotti

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark baking cocoa
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 10-oz. bag Mint Truffle Kisses, each unwrapped and cut into half

With a mixer, combine softened butter and sugar.  Beat until well-combined and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Stir in choclate chips and kisses.  Mixture will be very stiff.

Now, line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide dough into two long logs, one on each baking sheet, about 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide.  Press it until it's as even as you can get it.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes.

With a serrated knife, carefully cut each log into slices about 1 inch thick.  Place these slices onto parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool at least 20 minutes.

If you want to dress them up, you can melt a bit of white chocolate chips and drizzle it over the top, or dunk one end in the white chocolate.  Sprinkle any colored sprinkle over the chocolate.  To melt the white chocolate, place about 1/2 cup into a freezer-quality baggie.  Microwave for 30 seconds and then knead to melt.  If needed, continue melting in 15 second intervals.  Snip a small hole in one corner of the baggie and pipe over the cooled biscotti.

These make great little gifts for neighbors or teachers...Beth's teacher is getting this little package this morning.  Hopefully her coffee will still be hot!