Gingerbread Biscotti
To be honest, gingerbread men were never my fave. Now the biscotti version on the other hand, much more my speed!
I know what you’re thinking, why even bother with making the biscotti if I can just make gingerbread men? Well I’m glad you asked because the very simple answer here is that biscotti takes significantly less time to make! Sure you have to bake it twice, but I guarantee it will still be quicker than having to chill your dough, roll it out, cut out each man, etc. There is a time and place for that extra effort, but it’s not here.
Gingerbread biscotti is all the flavor of gingerbread men, just half the effort. Not to mention the flavor is even tastier when dipped in your morning coffee!
What you’ll need:
– 1/2 cup butter, room temp
– 1/4 cup white sugar (50g)
– 3/4 cup brown sugar (150g)
– 1/4 cup molasses (60mL)
– 2 eggs
– 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
– 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (300g)
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon ginger
– 1/2 teaspoon cloves
– 2-3 Tablespoons powdered sugar (optional)
What you’ll do:
– Set your oven to 350F.
– Cream together butter, both sugars, and molasses for several minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl every minute.
– Add your eggs one at a time, then add in the extract. Scrape down sides of bowl.
– Combine dry ingredients (except the powdered sugar) and slowly add to your wet mixture. If using a stand mixer, stir until flour is fully incorporated and then use a spatula to give a few more stirs to insure that everything from the bottom of the bowl has been mixed in.
– Spread out your dough on a lined baking sheet using an offset spatula. I like to try and keep mine in the shape of a rectangle that is almost the full length of the baking sheet and about 2/3 the width. (If you’re having any trouble with this part, sometimes I just use my fingers to make things even.)
– Evenly sprinkle your powdered sure over the rectangle, using your fingers to evenly spread the sugar over the entire surface. (I did not quite need the full 3 Tablespoons but it will depend on the size of your rectangle.)
– Bake your spread out dough for 20-25 minutes until golden brown in color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. (You don’t need to wait for it to be room temp, just cool enough that you can easily handle it.)
– Using a serrated knife, slice your baked rectangle into 16 pieces. To make things as even as possible, I like to start by slicing the rectangle in half. I then cut those pieces in half and so on until I get to 16 pieces.
– Lay your pieces cut side down on your baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove your tray from the oven and carefully flip each piece over to lay on the opposite side. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
– Dip in your coffee and ENJOY!
A few notes:
– For a better visual representation of each step, you can check out my Chocolate Iced Caramel Biscotti post to see pictures of each step.
– For the last 10 minutes in the oven, if you like crunchier cookie you can keep them in for an extra couple of minutes. Just keep an eye on the tips as those will darken first and be a good indicator that you are nearing the burning stage of baking.
– If you are a chocolate lover, you could leave off the powdered sugar and instead dip or drizzle your biscotti with chocolate!