Gingerbread Biscotti

Today is the first official day of winter. It has been quite snowy for a couple of weeks, I am so excited for all the winter activities! Especially skiing! I can't wait to go skiing! Today, I'm sharing a recipe for gingerbread biscotti! I mentioned these biscotti last week in my favorites, and said that when they were baking, it smelled like I was living in a gingerbread house! Totally strange description, I know! But believe me, once you put these in the oven, you will be thinking the exact same thing!

This recipe is from She Wears Many Hats, you can find it HERE. I stuck to the recipe pretty closely but I eliminated some of the spices. The original recipe calls for cinnamon, ginger, allspice, ground cloves and black pepper. I only used cinnamon and ginger - I wanted to keep the spices a little more simple. Let's get started...

I used an electric mixer for this recipe, mainly because I made 4 batches and I did not want to mixing all of that! While I used an electric mixer, if I were doing a smaller batch, I would totally do it by hand! You could do these by hand - easy peasy!

Start by combining 6 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. Mix in 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 Tablespoons of molasses. Once the wet ingredients come together, start mixing on the dry ingredients.

Mix in 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger. Once combined, add in 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Finally, gradually mix in 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. I can't wait to experiment with these as gluten free. My mom has being coveting these, so I'll have to experiment with gluten free soon!

The dough is pretty sticky, but if you flour your hands well it is ok to work with. Split the dough into 2 logs and flatten the logs to be about 2 inches wide by 12 inches long on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I use silicone mats instead!).

Brush a bout a Tablespoon of icing sugar across the top of each log. Use your fingers to spread the icing sugar out as evenly as possible.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the biscotti for 30 minutes.

Once the biscotti has completed its first bake, let it rest for 5-10 minutes then use a butter knife to cut the biscotti into 3/4 inch pieces along a diagonal. Do you see those little round edges on the ends? You have to eat those before you worry about any more baking! And I guarantee you will have a few others hanging around the kitchen waiting to have a taste! The Bean could hardly wait to get her hands to the ends!

Once the pieces are cut, turn the biscotti on their sides and bake them again for another 5 minutes. Remove the biscotti from the oven and let them cool until they are cool enough to touch. Turn each biscotti onto its other side and bake them again for another 5 minutes.

When you remove the biscotti from their final bake, Allow them to cool until you can handle them to transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely then enjoy!

GINGERBREAD BISCOTTI
yield 24 biscotti

ingredients
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla exract
2 Tablespoons molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-2 Tablespoons of icing sugar

directions
1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and the brown sugar. Then, mix in the eggs, the vanilla extract and the molasses.
2. Once the wet ingredients are well combined, mix in the cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda and salt. Then, gradually mix in the flour.
3. Split the dough into two equal parts. Flour your hands and arrange the dough into logs, then flatten the logs to be about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Brush about a Tablespoon of icing sugar across the top of each log, using your fingers to make sure the icing sugar is spread as evenly as possible.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then bake the logs for 30 minutes.
6. When the biscotti comes out of the oven, leave them to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then, use a butter knife to cut the biscotti into 3/4 inch pieces on a diagonal. Turn each of the biscotti on their side and return them to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, leave the biscotti to cool until they are ok to handle and flip the biscotti onto their opposite side. Bake the biscotti for another 5 minutes.
7. Once the biscotti completes its final bake, transfer the biscotti to a wire cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before enjoying!

Let me know if you have questions!