Had to Share: Chocolate Biscotti

Just the other {Tuesday} morning, I was craving something baked. I didn't have any muffin mixes in the house, but I did find a devil's food chocolate cake mix stashed in the back of my "pantry" (I wish it were truly a pantry). I also spied the yet-to-be-loved Cake Mix Doctor on my cookbook shelf. I cruised the index and found just the thing! It was fast, easy, and surprisingly delicious. I took some pics along the way so I could share the biscotti love!

The lowdown:
Makes: 18 biscotti
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes/first baking, 15 minutes/second baking, & 40 minutes resting time in oven

What you need:
Cookie sheet or baking pan
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons)
3 large eggs (recipe calls for 2, but 3 helped the flour come together)
1 cup whole wheat flour (recipe calls for all-purpose, but I'm a sucker for whole wheat)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (recipe calls for macadamia, but I used almonds and cranberries since I had it in the house)

The goods (doesn't take much! *eggs not pictured here)



I love my Pampered Chef pan--it worked perfectly for the biscotti.

Bake away:

1. Place oven rack in the center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Recipe suggest that you line your baking sheet with parchment paper--I didn't do that because I didn't have any.

2. In a mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid), mix cake mix, melted butter, eggs, flour, and nuts. Blend it up! At first I tried to stir it, but it did not all clump together. I had to use the electric mixer (which is what the recipe suggests). This is especially true because I used whole wheat flour.

Melt the butter in the microwave and pour it in!

  

I added chopped almonds--I think any nuts would be terrific!

I forgot to mention, flax seed kicks it up a notch too.

3. Keep blending! The dough should come together into a ball.

Let the mixer do the work.

4. Transfer dough to your baking sheet (the recipe suggests you flour your hands--I didn't do that).

5. Shape the dough into a rectangle, about the size of your baking sheet. You can mound the dough so that it's slightly higher in the center.

6. Bake your biscotti rectangle (don't cut it first) for 35-40 minutes or until it feels firm when lightly pressed with your finger and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Let biscotti cool about 10 minutes or until you it's not too hot to slice. Cut biscotti on the baking sheet. Slice the rectangle on the diagonal into 1 inch thick slices.

Almost any knife will work

8. Turn slices on their sides using the knife (don't burn your fingers!).

9. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake biscotti for another 10-15 minutes at 350. Finally, turn the oven off and let the biscotti remain in over until crisp (another 30-40 minutes).

10. Let cool and enjoy! I recommend dipping in your morning coffee!!

Blakely baking her own cookies!

Credit: The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn (can find on Amazon with fantastic costumer reviews: linked here).