Fall Into Flavor with Chocolate Cinnamon Biscotti

When it starts getting cold (which is what most of you will experience once Indian summer is over) is there anything better than a hot cup of coffee or tea and some biscotti to dunk into it? No, I didn't think so either so this week I'm sharing a super easy biscotti recipe gleaned from the Chocolate Cake Doctor. This woman has taken a simple box cake mix and -- like Emeril -- KICKED IT UP A NOTCH! I haven't made it all the way through either the Cake Doctor or the Chocolate Cake Doctor cookbooks yet but I'm working on it :-) Simple ingredients and method, fantastic results. [Could also be made and given as gifts.]

CHOCOLATE CINNAMON BISCOTTI

makes 16-18

1 pkg plain German chocolate cake mix*

8 T butter (one stick)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fiinely chopped hazelnuts*

1/4 cup flaked or grated semisweet chocolate

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In large bowl mix together all the ingredients on low speed until well blended, 3-4 minutes. The dough will be thick and come together in a ball.

Turn out onto prepared baking sheet. With floured hands shape dough into a rectangle about 14" long by 4" wide and 1/2 inch thick. Mound dough so it is slightly higher in the center (slightly, people, slightly!).

Bake until it feels firm when lightly pressed with finger and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and leave biscotti to cool for 10 minutes. (Leave the oven on; we're not done yet.)

Use a sharp, serrated knife cut one inch thick slices. You should end up with 16-18 biscotti. As you slice, carefully set biscotti on its side on the same baking sheet.

Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes. Turn oven off BUT LEAVE BISCOTTI IN THE OVEN for 30-40 minutes until they are crisp.

Remove from oven, transfer biscotti to a rack and cool completely (about 2 hours).

Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to several weeks.

* I substitute with regular chocolate cake mix since I cannot find the German chocolate here. 

Nor can I get hazelnuts, so I use walnuts instead.

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Now how simple was that? And the taste? Riquisimo!

Ivan is taking our car to the mechanic this morning because the problem has stumped him.Saturday evening after we finished with the weekly soccer game/fellowship time and were ready come home, none of the lights worked on the car inside or outside. Not good! Pray the mechanic diagnoses the problem quickly and is able to repair it by tomorrow evening. 'Cause Wednesday we have to get Andrea to the airport.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Candle in the Corner project, take time to do it today! I've met some lovely ladies from all over the world through this project.

On my computer I was able to add accents and upside down question marks and exclamation points. I'm sure there's some way to do the same on Ivan's computer but I haven't figured it out yet (don't really have a lot of time to look either). I miss my Mac :-(  But Ivan ordered the part on Saturday to be delivered to our daughter who will then bring it when she comes to visit IN ONLY 38 DAYS.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it :-) 

Remembering how exhausted I was after that last semester in college, we've blocked out the first week she's here so she can just rest and relax. She'll probably need a few days to catch up on sleep!

Also on my computer was our address book so until we get the Macbook fixed, we won't be able to send out e-mail updates like we typically do once or twice a month. The address book has all our contact info: e-mails, addresses, phone numbers, etc. *sigh* Probably need to remedy that problem. It took me HOURS AND HOURS almost two years ago to input all that info, because we have hundreds and hundreds of folks who receive prayer updates.

I printed out a hard copy but that was over a year ago and there have been so many changes since then. PLUS I'd have to re-input all the e-mail addresses on Ivan's computer and THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY. Meanwhile people will think we've dropped off the face of the earth.

Which I sort of feel I have, speaking in terms of being connected via social media/networking. Sharing a computer means a lot less time for stopping by facebook, reading blogs or checking out the latest on The Quilt Show site. So far I've managed to keep up with e-mails but that's about it. I'm so far behind with blogs I may never catch up. But in the infamous words of my hubby: "It is what it is."

Happy Monday everyone!