Part II: Vanishing Gingerbread Biscotti

When it looks like this outside my apartment window,

The only thing that I want is one of these:

Gingerbread Biscotti dipped in Chocolate. If you're thinking, "Mmmm that sounds absolutely delicious," then you should go ahead and stop everything you're doing and make these. Like now. Seriously. If you're thinking, "I'm not so sure about the whole chocolate-gingerbread combo," then you should also drop everything and make these too, or at least try one from the batch that the people from the first group made.

My friends and I decided that in order to preserve our sanity during finals and to make sure we were properly reveling in the Christmas season, we would set aside a few evenings to make a Christmas cookie and listen to Christmas music or watch a Christmas movie. I decided to bake first since I was itching to try this recipe, and needless to say, it was a hit. One last picture before the recipe? Okay.

Gingerbread Biscotti
from Allrecipes

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
3/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix into egg mixture to form a stiff dough.

Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie. Place rolls on cookie sheet, and pat down to flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool.
When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy.

Once cool, dip one side in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. 

I personally think this is my new favorite Christmas cookie. The combination of the spicy, aromatic gingerbread and the smooth, semi-sweet chocolate is a crazy good balance, and nothing beats a cookie that you can get away with eating for breakfast with your coffee. Also, if you decide to take the time to do a prettier dipping job than I did - my friends weren't too concerned with the aesthetics - they would make for a beautiful little Christmas treat to package up in cellophane bags. Add Martha Stewart's Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti and people might start placing orders.