Baking Recipes,  Cookies,  From the books,  Reinventions of classics

These Banana Bread Biscotti with Chocolate are the most epic biscotti ever!

It is such typical Joy The Baker behavior to come up with a biscotti patterned after banana bread. This Banana Bread Biscotti is one of my fave cookies!


Before I decided to make my own blog, I was an avid follower of several food blogs. Let’s call them my major inspirations for finally diving into food blogging myself. I was inspired by their wit and creativity when it came to food and how they presented it to the world. One of my favorites would have to be Joy Wilson of Joy The Baker. A normal visit to her site would consist of reading through her entries and cracking a smile, and then proceeding to bookmark a bunch of new recipes.

I mean, if you won’t take my word for it, just ask the people who have asked her to write her own cookbooks and the ones who have bought them.

The recipe I’m writing about today is one I tried from her Homemade Decadence cookbook. I actually don’t own the book yet but I came across the recipe on the interwebs and it jumped at me so much I knew I had to make it ASAP. It’s a little something called Banana Bread Biscotti, partially dipped in chocolate for good measure.

It is such typical Joy The Baker behavior to come up with the genius idea of creating a biscotti patterned after banana bread. Personally, it feels a bit like hitting two birds with one stone because biscotti and banana bread are two things I like.

These Banana Bread Biscotti were some of the best biscotti I have ever eaten. I’m not even kidding. From the solid banana flavor and the unmistakable touch of cinnamon, it is literally banana bread in cookie form. Plus it smells freaking amazing. The bonus is the addition of chocolate, which you use to coat the biscotti partially. I suppose if you really don’t want to do it you can skip this step, but I still highly recommend it. Banana and chocolate go well together and it’s no different here.

I know that most people (me included) don’t enjoy rock solid biscotti, and I think that having bananas in these prevent them from drying out completely. That’s a pretty good thing because I like to be able to bite my biscotti minus milk or coffee. Joy actually gives you options to bake these Banana Bread Biscotti in different degrees of soft and hard in her book, but I prefer a just-crisp biscotti so I wrote the instructions for that degree of doneness below.

In all honesty, I couldn’t stop raving about these right after my very first bite. I suppose a lot of it has to do with my being a fan of the banana flavor, but I just really love how this turned out. Sometimes I wonder if Joy The Baker eats rainbows for breakfast, thus her genius creative ideas when it comes to her food.

Banana Bread Biscotti with Chocolate

Joy The Baker comes up with yet another brilliant take on crowd-favorite banana bread by capturing all its flavors in a biscotti!

Makes about 32 biscotti

Ingredients

For the Biscotti dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 medium overripe banana, mashed well (makes about ½ cup)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

For the Cinnamon Topping

  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Chocolate Coating

  • 8 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (or use chips)
  • 2 to 3 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

Make the Biscotti dough

  • 1. Preheat oven to 325° F (170°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
  • 3. Using a whisk and a large bowl (or using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment), beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in banana and egg until completely combined. Finally, add vanilla extract.
  • 4. Using a spatula, stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture, making sure to mix all the way to the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything properly. (If using a stand mixer, reduce mixer speed to low, then carefully add the flour mixture and allow to mix until just combined. Give the dough a final stir using a rubber spatula to make sure all the flour is incorporated.) The dough will be soft.
  • 5. Divide the dough in two and place on the prepared baking sheet, using a spoon to shape dough into rough 9- by 1½-inch logs. It’s okay if the dough looks shaggy and imperfect.
  • 6. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water to create the egg wash. In another small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Brush the egg wash over both logs until the surface of the dough looks smooth. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over both of the logs.
  • 7. Bake the biscotti for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven but don't turn off the oven just yet.
  • 8. Allow the biscotti to cool until you're able to handle them, then using a serrated knife, cut the logs into ½-inch-wide diagonal slices. Place the sliced biscotti cut-side-up on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, flipping the cookies halfway through to make sure they get dried out on both sides. (I did mine 10 minutes on each side, but the longer you bake, the more crisp/hard it will become.)
  • 9. Once the biscotti look dried and firm, remove from oven. Cool completely on a wire rack before proceeding.

To finish

  • 10. In a microwave-safe bowl, place the chocolate and melt in microwave using 10 second increments, mixing the chocolate in between to make sure it melts evenly. If the chocolate seems too thick, add milk a tablespoon at a time until it becomes a dippable consistency.
  • 11. Dip about 1/3 of the fully cooled biscotti into the melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off before returning to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop the pan into the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to set quickly, otherwise let set on its own at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
  • 12. The biscotti can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

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