Double Chocolate Decadence Biscotti

About a year and a half ago Anthony and his now-wife Kati went to Italy for a couple weeks. When they came back (and possibly before they left. I can't remember and I can be horrible at noticing these things sometimes) Kati seemed to have a love and appreciation for all things Italian, specifically food. She even wanted as much Italian food and influence as possible for their wedding. So for her Christmas gift this year I decided to use a recipe from a biscotti cookbook I got during a recent trip to Portland. After looking at all the chocolate recipes and even trying to find a peanut butter one (since last year's white chocolate peanut butter fudge was successful. Maybe an internet search next year), I finally decided on Double Chocolate Decadence.

Double Chocolate Decadence (Biscotti, pg. 23)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole almonds (I just used the sliced almonds I still have in my pantry. According to this, that equaled about a cup of them)
  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons Amaretto or Kahlua or double-strength coffee (since I have none of these and don't want entire bottles/containers lying around unused, I just used 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached or all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chopped milk chocolate (in a kind of full circle move, I instead used the 4 oz. dark chocolate bar that Anthony and Kati got me last year to use for baking. Since I don't like dark chocolate, it just sat in my pantry. It ended up being about 2/3 cups when broken into pieces)

Directions

1. Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in a preheated 350℉ oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. (One of these days, I'll do this step in a recipe.)
2. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and liqueur or coffee (or vanilla).
3. In a bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing until blended.
4. Cut nuts into halves or thirds. Fold in nuts and milk chocolate.
5. Divide dough in half. On a greased and floured baking sheet pat out into two logs about 1/2 inch high, 1 1/2 inches wide, and 14 inches long, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake in the middle of a preheated 325℉ oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. (As you can probably tell by the pictures, I tried the suggested size with one log and not the other. The suggested size seemed skinny to me.)
6. Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack. Let cool for 5 minutes.
7. Place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife slice diagonally on a 45-degree angle about 1/2-inch thick. Place the slices upright on the baking sheet 1/2 inch apart and return to the oven for about 8 to 10 minutes longer to dry slightly. Let cool on a rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

The book says it makes about 3 1/2 to 4 dozen. I only got about 2 dozen. I don't think Kati cared though; she still loved them.