With 10 inches of snow in our yard, I decided we needed something to warm us up besides hot chocolate--gingerbread biscotti. The biscotti take next to no time to make, and they can bake while you're munching on your dinner. Yes, you have to bake the cookies twice, but the second bake can happen while you clean up the kitchen after you've eaten your dinner. When you've finished with the dishes, you'll have warm, spicy, crunchy cookies to accompany your after-dinner coffee or tea (or hot chocolate). The cookies, unadorned, aren't very sweet, but a white chocolate glaze will give them plenty of extra sugar as well as making them quite addictive. I dust the tops of the white chocolate-topped cookies with a little cinnamon, but it's not necessary if you're in a hurry to eat the cookies. The biscotti will be quite crunchy--perfect for dipping in your coffee--but if you'd like them a little softer, just bake them for a few minutes less during their second stint in the oven.
Gingerbread Biscotti -- Makes About 24
1/3 cup of canola oil
2/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup of molasses
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of white whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
3/4 cup of white chocolate chips
Additional cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together well the oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. Stir in the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until a stiff dough forms. Spoon the dough out onto the prepared cookie sheet, forming two logs (dampen your hands with a little water to ease the shaping), leaving about 4 inches between the logs. Each log should be about 10-12 inches long and about 2 inches wide. Bake the logs for about 30 minutes or until puffed and barely firm to the touch. With a sharp knife (a ceramic chef's knife works well), cut the logs crosswise into slices about 1/2-inch thick. Separate the slices a little, leaving them standing up, and bake them for another 10-15 minutes or until as crispy as you like them. Keep in mind that the biscotti will crisp a bit more on standing, so don't worry if they're a little soft when you remove them from the oven. For the glaze, microwave the white chocolate chips for about a minute until they melt, stirring them every 15 seconds during the melting process. Place the cookies on their sides, and quickly paint or drizzle the cookies (on one side, only) with the melted white chocolate. Sprinkle the white chocolate coating with a little cinnamon, if you'd like. Let the cookies sit until the glaze hardens (this won't take long, and you can eat them anyway, as long as you don't mind a little melted white chocolate on your fingers).
