that's right. i'm giving you a double dose of chocolate this week. i have been on a serious biscotti kick every since i made THESE BISCOTTI from joy the baker. i've whipped them up for photo shoots, ladies gift baskets and they are going in my annual basket of christmas goodies i give as gifts (whoops, ruined the surprise).

i've experimented with a plethora of different flavor combinations, but i just keep coming back to this double chocolate stunner. this is the perfect unexpected but delicious treat to give at your last minute cookie exchanges, for your coworkers you don't know what to get or just for yourself to dunk into your coffee at christmas morning. i even gave mine a  pretty coat of some edible paint (shop edible paint HERE) to fancy them up when giving them as gifts. 

dark chocolate dipped chocolate chip biscotti

serves: 2 dozen biscotti

prep time: 20 minutes

bake time: 45 minutes

time to dip: 30 minutes

total time: 2 hours 

ingredients: 3 cups all purpose flour.  1 tsp baking powder. .75 tsp kosher salt. .5 cup room temperature butter. .75 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 2 tsp vanilla extract. 1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate. 8 oz dark chocolate. 1 glass or heat proof bowl. 1 pot of water. parchment paper. baking sheet. rubber spatula. 

start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f. in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar till it is light in color and well combined. about 2 minutes. combine the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

add your eggs in to the mixture one at a time. after each one, push down the edges of batter down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

add in the vanilla extract.

pour in all the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until the dough comes together.

dump in your chocolate chips and mix on slow till just combined.

line your baking sheet with parchment paper. make two dough logs so that your biscotti will be the size you like. i like mine 6-7 inches long (i like a big biscotti).  bake until the edges of your logs begins to turn golden. 20-25 minutes. turn the oven down to 300 degrees f. 

allow the biscotti to rest for 20 minutes. using a serrated knife, slice your log into .75-1 inch thick slices. lay each slice on its side and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 20 if you like them really crunchy. now you have a choice. if you DON'T want to dip yours in chocolate which is a perfectly respectable decision. BUT if you do want to go that extra mile, allow your biscotti to cool to room temp. while they are cooling, set up a double boiler. if you are not familiar with a double boiler or tempering (melting) chocolate, HERE IS A GREAT VIDEO. if you are, great! get that dark chocolate melting. when the biscotti have cooled, lay out some extra parchment paper. dip one end of each biscotti into the melted chocolate and using a spoon, gently coat the dipped end in an even layer of dark chocolate.

allow the excess chocolate to drip off and then set the biscotti on parchment to dry. allow the chocolate to harden completely (about 20-30 minutes, quicker if you pop them in the fridge) and enjoy or store in an airtight container till you are ready to use them. you can store them for a week or so before they stale. 

xo, a

dark chocolate dipped chocolate chip biscotti

serves: 2 dozen biscotti

prep time: 20 minutes

bake time: 45 minutes

time to dip: 30 minutes

total time: 2 hours 

ingredients: 3 cups all purpose flour.  1 tsp baking powder. .75 tsp kosher salt. .5 cup room temperature butter. .75 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 2 tsp vanilla extract. 1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate. 8 oz dark chocolate. 1 glass or heat proof bowl. 1 pot of water. parchment paper. baking sheet. rubber spatula. 

start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f. in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar till it is light in color and well combined. about 2 minutes. combine the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside. add your eggs in to the mixture one at a time. after each one, push down the edges of batter down the sides  of the bowl with a rubber spatula. add in the vanilla extract. pour in all the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until the dough comes together. dump in your chocolate chips and mix on slow till just combined. line your baking sheet with parchment paper. make two dough logs so that your biscotti will be the size you like. i like mine 6-7 inches long (i like a big biscotti).  bake until the edges of your logs begins to turn golden. 20-25 minutes. turn the oven down to 300 degrees f. allow the biscotti to rest for 20 minutes. using a serrated knife, slice your log into .75-1 inch thick slices. lay each slice on its side and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 20 if you like them really crunchy. now you have a choice. if you DON'T want to dip yours in chocolate which is a perfectly respectable decision. BUT if you do want to go that extra mile, allow your biscotti to cool to room temp. while they are cooling, set up a double boiler. if you are not familiar with a double boiler or tempering (melting) chocolate, HERE IS A GREAT VIDEO. if you are, great! get that dark chocolate melting. when the biscotti have cooled, lay out some extra parchment paper. dip one end of each biscotti into the melted chocolate and using a spoon, gently coat the dipped end in an even layer of dark chocolate. allow the excess chocolate to drip off and then set the biscotti on parchment to dry. allow the chocolate to harden completely (about 20-30 minutes, quicker if you pop them in the fridge) and enjoy or store in an airtight container till you are ready to use them. you can store them for a week or so before they really stale. 

life really is a roller coaster. the older i get, the more it feels like every day is just a constant flow of life, death and all the little joys and traumas in between. after my weekend away, i had a wonderfully upbeat blog post prepped for today. and then the last forty-eight hours happened.
this weekend was an amazing emotional high. i spent friday through early sunday morning in a studio casita in the ojai valley with some of my best girls. we had come together to celebrate a birthday, but more than that, we came together to escape. each in our own way. there were tears and belly laughs. moments of joy and revelation and moments of truth and sorrow. there is a special way that women can express themselves and truly connect. especially some that have known each other for a baker's dozen years and grown up together.

after leaving my much needed therapy weekend, i headed home to deliver a cake for a baby shower and attend a memorial for a dear friends mom. on my road trip home, i learned of the birth of one of my clients first child. basically i was raw with emotion by sunday night. i waited up till the last hours of sunday night to see my husband when he came home from work. and together, we watched as the first reports of the tragic massacre in las vegas came through. yesterday was a shockingly dull day. numb really. we woke up to crazy numbers of casualties and injuries. when we went to bed, there were only two reported fatalities and fifty injured. the morning was spent just soaking in the crazy and trying to control what i can control (i trimmed the passion fruit plant for hours). and then... tom petty died. what. the. fuck.
that is when i just threw up my hands and said fuck it. life was just kicking our asses yesterday.

i knew i had to go teach yoga and it seemed like such a daunting task. so i thought about what i could say to people, to myself, so we could get through it together. i decided that the only thing i could say was that in the face of all that was going on, all the crazy the world was throwing at us, the only thing we could really do was refocus our energies on ourselves. we had to take a moment to find some calm, regroup, and mourn a bit before we could get back out there and figure out how to make things better. sometimes, you just need a minute. so we took a couple minutes, turned up the music and did the work.

and today, i got up and did the exact same. took a minute, turned it up and did the work. because that is all i can do. so, even though things are a bit dark right now, i'm sharing something light and bright and tasty. there is no point in suffering. take a minute, turn it up and make these delicious bars to share with those you love. or strangers. you do you.

mascarpone + fig bars
prep time: 5 minutes
bake time: 10 minutes
active time: 30 minutes
total time: 45 minutes
ingredients: 1 cups flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans (i blend mine up in a food processor). .5 cup butter (1 stick), melted. .25 cup brown sugar. 1 pinch kosher salt. 1 lb mascarpone cheese, softened. 8 oz cream cheese, softened. 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 8-10 figs, sliced thin. 9 x 13 inch baking dish. parchment paper.

start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees f. in a bowl, combine the pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt and the melted butter. 

roughly combine and then pour the crust onto the parchment lined baking dish. 

use your hands or the back of a measuring cup to press the crust to cover the bottom of the pan. bake the crust for 10-12 minutes till starting go brown. 

while the crust is baking, combine the mascarpone, cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. mix on medium speed till light and fluffy. 3-5 minutes. 

add in one egg at a time. letting each egg combine completely before adding in the next. 2-3 minutes. 

add in the vanilla extract just until combined. 

pour the mascarpone filling into the baking pan over the crust.

use a spatula or small butter knife to smooth out the filling. 

place your figs on top in desire pattern. 

bake till just set, 18-20 minutes. allow to cool. for really easy slicing into bars, freeze till hard and slice. enjoy or store in a airtight container for up to two weeks.

xo, a

mascarpone + fig bars
prep time: 5 minutes
bake time: 10 minutes
active time: 30 minutes
total time: 45 minutes
ingredients: 1 cups flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans (i blend mine up in a food processor). .5 cup butter (1 stick), melted. .25 cup brown sugar. 1 pinch kosher salt. 1 lb mascarpone cheese, softened. 8 oz cream cheese, softened. 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 8-10 figs, sliced thin. 9 x 13 inch baking dish. parchment paper.

start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees f. in a bowl, combine the pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt and the melted butter. roughly combine and then pour the crust onto the parchment lined baking dish. use your hands or the back of a measuring cup to press the crust to cover the bottom of the pan. bake the crust for 10-12 minutes till starting go brown. while the crust is baking, combine the mascarpone, cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. mix on medium speed till light and fluffy. 3-5 minutes. add in one egg at a time. letting each egg combine completely before adding in the next. 2-3 minutes. add in the vanilla extract just until combined. pour the mascarpone filling into the baking pan over the crust. use a spatula or small butter knife to smooth out the filling. place your figs on top in desire pattern. bake till just set, 18-20 minutes. allow to cool. for really easy slicing into bars, freeze till hard and slice. enjoy or store in a airtight container for up to two weeks.