Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Last weekend i was so looking forward to the new target opening up within a mile from my apartment and to be honest it really did make me happy to finally spend couple of hours there..... I and one of my very good friend Rhonda had visited Target and when we were hungry we decided to have a cup of coffee in Starbucks which was located in it.

I decided to go for my favorite Cafe Mocha ~ No Whip - 1 pump of chocolate with Almond Biscotti ... while i was chatting with Rhonda and nibbling on Biscotti i said - " Rhonda i think i can bake this stuff " and being a very good friend of mine she agreed and said "Sure you can!" and that motivated me to take this one step and bake these dark chocolate almond biscotti's.

I did lot of homework on how to bake them and i was missing out on one or the other ingredients mentioned. Some said i need pistachios, some said i need some different kind of sugar... but i had to bake them at any cost so this baking devil in me is quiet... so i decided to bake with what i have at home and these biscotti's turned out to be really well - i replaced pistachios with Almonds and used a normal sugar what i had and chocolate chips with unsweetened chocolate so they are not very sweet. Believe me it did taste the same i had in "Starbucks".... I'm not exaggerating my baking here but these Biscotti's really made me feel good about myself :)  and they are damn easy ~ trust me !!!!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking sheet

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for baking sheet

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup chopped Almonds

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a baking sheet; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.In a double boiler melt chocolate and keep aside. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs; beat until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary. Add flour mixture, and stir to form a stiff dough. Stir in almonds and melted chocolate.
4. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet; form into a slightly flattened log, about 12 by 4 inches. Bake until slightly firm, about 25 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes. Reduce oven to 300 degrees.
5. On a cutting board, using a sharp serrated knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices. Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet, and bake until crisp but still slightly soft in the center, about 8 minutes.

You can enjoy these with Tea/Coffee or just a lil snack as they are very light, crunchy and less in FAT !!!
Enjoy!!!

Handmade fresh Pizza - right from scratch

Today was one of those days when i was motivated to bake something different and which i have never tried - trust me the list is big enough.... But i had this urge of making Pizza base at home and it came out really well... So guys next time you want to eat pizza you know whom to call for it :) trust me its easy....



Ingredients:

Pizza base- (this proportion makes one pizza base)
1/4 tspn - Active Dry yeast
1/8 tspn - Sugar
1/8 tspn - Salt
3/4 tspn - Olive Oil
3 tbspn - Warm Water
1/4 cup - Whole Wheat flour ( or All-purpose flour)

Pizza Sauce-
1 - ripe tomato
1 tspn - dried Oregano
1 tspn - dried Basil
Salt as per taste
1 - Garlic bud (finely chopped)

Toppings-
Capsicum - chopped
Olives - sliced
Onions - chopped
Cheese - as per requirement
(you can add as many toppings you want)

Method:
Pizza base-
1] In a medium size bowl, dissolve dry yeast and sugar in warm water. Set aside for 10 mins.
2] Into this add salt and olive oil.
3] Add flour to this mixture and start making a dough out of it. Knead till the dough is not sticky.
4] Apply some oil on a separate bowl on the sides and place the dough in that. Cover the bowl with a cloth. Keep aside for 1 hr atleast untouched.
5] After 1 hr, you should see the dough doubles in size. Take the dough and roll it with rolling pin and give a desired shape (generally round or square).
Your Pizza base is ready :)

Pizza Sauce-
1] Make tomato puree (simply churn tomato in a mixer and take it out in a bowl).
2] Add Oregano, basil, salt and Garlic.
3] Spread it on the pizza base evenly.

Final Assembly-
1] Add all the desired toppings on the pizza base having sauce on it.
2] Pre-heat the oven at 425 degrees F. Put the pizza base on the pizza pan / cookie sheet / flat baking pan and Bake for 8-10 mins. You will see the base is cooked.
3] Broil/grill the pizza for 1-2 mins or till the cheese becomes slightly brown.

Your Hot Pizza is ready to eat.
We loved this pizza and have decided to make it again with different toppings.
I made it of whole wheat and didn't add too much of oil or cheese - so its Healthy yet delicious....
So guys next time you want to eat Pizza you know where to call ;)
Enjoy!!!