Double Chocolate Garam Masala Walnut Biscotti

Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti with Garam Masala:
Holiday season is really a celebration of sugar, spice and all things nice! As the Christmas/NewYear week approaches, the baking frenzy reaches its peak at our place. Maybe you are also busy baking all sorts of cookies and cakes these days, especially if you like to give edible gifts like me to your family and friends.

And holiday gifts are so incomplete without the crispy, crumply, fruity Biscotti. Biscotti are actually biscuits or cookies of Italian origin and are twice baked to achieve that special texture and hence the name, “bis” (twice), “cotto” (baked). The singular for Biscotti is Biscotto. So next time if you want just one, you ask for a biscotto 😉

You know we are chocolate crazy at our place. No, not just me but the entire family! Our holiday baking, therefore, is dominated by chocolate flavour. This Double Chocolate Garam Masala Walnut Biscotti is an essential part of our cookie collection. To break the monotony of chocolate, chocolate and chocolate, I add lots of walnuts to it with an exotic flavour twist of garam masala instead of just cinnamon or nutmeg (the usual holiday spice suspects).

For those who are not familiar with garam masala, it’s a very aromatic blend of whole spices, commonly used in South Asian kitchens. If you can’t find the ready made version in a Pakistani/Indian/Bengali grocery store near you, just blend together Black peppercorns, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, green cardamom and cloves in an electric blender for a quick fix. Garam masala not only adds a powerful kick of heat to the Double Chocolate Garam Masala Walnut Biscotti but also makes the home smell as cosy and welcoming as it should to cheer up you and your guests on a cold day.

If you love to dunk your cookies in tea or coffee as much as I do, there is no treat more soul warming than these decadent and delicious biscotti.

Happy Holiday from Foodaholic, me and my family! May 2017 bring you sweet joy and lasting comfort!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1+1/3 cup plain flour
1/4 cup semolina
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garam masala (mixed ground spices)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup roughly crushed walnuts

This Is What You Do:
Preheat oven at 180 degrees C.

Cream together eggs and sugar in a bowl with a hand whisk or electric mixer. Keep whisking till the mixture is creamy, thick and double its original size.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl; plain flour, semolina, cocoa powder, baking powder, garam masala and salt.

Fold into the egg and sugar mixture. Add chocolate chips and crushed walnuts.

Mix to combine everything and make a cookie like dough. Divide the dough into two portions.

Lightly grease a baking tray. Make two flat logs with the dough on the tray, slightly apart from each other.

Bake for 25 minutes or till they are firm to touch.

Remove from oven, set aside to cool slightly before slicing.
Don’t wait too one though or they shall set hard and be difficult to cut and start crumbling under the pressure of knife.

Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Lay the pieces flat on the tray again in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip side and bake another 10 minutes.

Completely cool before storing in a jar.

Biscotti stays good for over a week but tastes best for first 3-4 days.

Makes 2 dozen biscotti.