Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Biscotti


I honestly believe that one must have a passion for food to tackle writing a food blog, and since I’ve had my blog Italian Food Forever online for over 11 years now, my passion must have become an obsession by now. My life revolves around food, and I’m not ashamed of it.

I love fabulous food, I truly do, and when I’m not buying it, preparing it in my kitchen, or savoring the taste of it, I’m often thinking about it. We even plan our vacations around where or what we’d like to eat, and family get-togethers ALWAYS revolve around food.

I actually carry a small pad of paper and a pen around with me so when an idea pops into my head about some new flavor combination or dish I want to play around with, or if I’ve tasted something spectacular at a restaurant that I want to recreate at home, I’ll make notes so I’ll remember it later. 

This is exactly how the idea for these biscotti came about as I had trouble sleeping one night a few months back, and got to thinking about flavor combinations for biscotti. When I thought about making a chocolate peanut butter biscotti, I jotted the idea down in my note pad (beside my bed), and just came across the entry recently reading back through my notes. 

Some may call this behavior odd, while others may simply feel I have a quirky, creative side with a healthy focus on food. Some also may call me a “foodie”, an overused term I honestly do not care for, but I would I like to say that I’m simply food centric.

The Urban Dictionary defines foodcentric as:
1. a non-snobby foodie
2. a person who enjoys dining at restaurants, understands the business as a former server/bus person/back waiter/bartender and can appreciate the stress, the joy, and the satisfaction of servicing the public
3. a person who enjoys cooking for the fun of it – not claiming to be a “foodie” who can only cook based on a recipe from one of their 5000 cookbooks or food magazines – cooks from the heart, not from a book

Okay, back to these biscotti……..I was thinking about combining two different flavors of biscotti dough, chocolate as one, and peanut butter as the other and then combining the two to create one. I picked two basic biscotti recipes, made the dough for each, then tried to figure out how best to marble them.

I ended up rolling each of the two different doughs into two tubes each and then took one tube of each of the doughs and twisted them together. I had to knead the dough a bit to get it formed into the log shape required for biscotti and did end up with two marbled logs.

Instead of marbling the dough as I describe, you could also simply lay one chocolate shaped tube on top of a peanut butter flavored one and then press to shape into a log creating a two toned biscotti. The one mistake I made was to leave my chopped peanuts too large which made it tricky to slice the baked logs after. I’d either chop the peanuts finely next time I make them, or simply leave the peanuts out. Be careful not to overbake these cookies as they do crisp up as they cool.

Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti

Yield: Makes 3 1/2 Dozen
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes

A unique flavor combination for a traditional Italian cookie.

Ingredients

Chocolate Biscotti:

  • 4 Ounces Dark Chocolate
  • 1/2 Cup Butter, Softened
  • 1/4 Cup Sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • Pinch of Salt

Peanut Butter Biscotti:

  • 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Softened
  • 1/3 Cup Peanut Butter
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1 Large Egg Yolk
  • 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Peanuts (Optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and lightly grease two baking sheets. To make the chocolate biscotti dough, finely grate the chocolate. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, along with the vanilla and beat until blended. Add the grated chocolate and stir to mix. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the creamed mixture just until combined. Place dough in the refrigerator until needed. To make the peanut butter biscotti dough, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed until blended. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and mix just until combined. Take each of the two flavored dough and divide into half. Roll each half into a 14 inch tube. Take one chocolate tube and one peanut butter tube and place side by side. Twist the dough around each other to marble with lightly floured hands to prevent sticking. Once marbled to your satisfaction, use your fingers to shape into logs about 5 inches wide. Prepare two marbled logs in this manner and then place each on one of the prepared baking sheets. Bake the logs until firm to the tough and lightly browned, about 30 to 35 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then use a serrated knife to slice crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices flat, side by side and bake another 10 to 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving, then store in an airtight container.

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4 Comments

  1. These sound delicious & I’ll be trying them. You could solve the chopped peanut problem and save a step by using chunky peanut butter, I usually do in any peanut butter recipe.

  2. I always look at this after I have had breakfast, and its a struggle not to rush out and make some of these scrumptious recipes and ‘eat the whole thing’. My will power always wins out. Thank heavens.

  3. I loved this post, especially your talking about being food-centric, what that means, and describing carrying your notebook around. It’s the same with writers, of which I am one — ideas can strike any time, and I don’t consider it weird at all that you try to be prepared. I think your family is extremely lucky that you put so much time, thought, and effort into food and meals. I have learned so much from your blog, thank you!

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