Chocolate orange mandelbrot

For those who don’t know what Mandelbrot are, they are essentially a Jewish biscotti. There is not much different about them except I find Mandelbrot to be slightly softer. I have another recipe for a chocolate almond mandelbrot but I figured since chocolate orange is such a holiday flavor, to make them with a different flavor profile.

Note: This is somewhat of a project, and take about 24 hours to make. So try your best to be preemptive with when you want to eat them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white sugar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter; at room temperature

• 1/2 cup of slivered almonds

• Zest of 1 orange

• 2 tbsp of good quality cocoa powder

• 2 eggs; beaten

• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp of orange extract

• 2 cup of AP flour

• 1 tbsp of almond flour

• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

• 1/4 tsp of baking soda

• 1 tsp of kosher salt

• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Day 1:

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, butter, slivered almonds, and orange zest. Set on medium speed and let go for about 4 minutes, until super light and fluffy. Add in the cocoa powder and mix again until you have a dark paste.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and orange extract. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until completely combined. You might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed together.

Add the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the mixing bowl. Let the mixer run for about a minute until the dough comes together. Add in the chocolate chips and mix again.

Transfer the dough into a smaller bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours so that it firms up. (You can leave it in there longer if you want, it won’t hurt!!)

After the dough has been completely chilled in the bowl, preheat your oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with some flour and roll out your dough to a cylinder. Flatten down the top and sides so it is a bit more of a flat semi-circle. Place the log on the baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, making sure you rotate the pan halfway through.

Pull the baked log out of the oven, let cool completely. Once the log is completely cooled down, wrap it in plastic wrap and stick it in the refrigerator (again) for at least 3 hours. I would do this overnight, just to make it easy. You do the second refrigeration so that the loaf is super easy to slice.

Day 2:

After your dough has chilled and you are ready for your second bake, preheat your oven to 300F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper (I would recommend using a different one than the one that has been in the cold overnight).

Transfer your chilled loaf to a cutting board and using a bread knife, slice the baked dough crosswise so you have about 1/2 inch pieces. Lay the biscotti-like pieces on your new baking sheet on their sides. Bake for about 20-30 minutes until they are golden on the edges. Rotate the tray halfway through the cooking time and I would recommend flipping the cookies to their other side too!

Let cool and enjoy! (With coffee or tea!)