Tea Shortbread Cookies and Chocolate Biscotti

Konnichiwa everyone!

I'm back from Japan, ready to bake and blog! :) Christmas was fast approaching and so 'twas cookies time!~~

You're either in the cookies team or the cake team, and I'm definitely in the cookies team. Not that I don't love cakes, but cookies are the way to go! So yup, another reason to celebrate on Christmas! (Except that I don't actually like Gingerbread Cookies, but let's not go there!)

First off, I baked some Tea Shortbread Cookies for our neighbors who never failed to give us goodies from time to time. Naturally, it was our turn to return the favour on this festive season.

Shortbread cookies are really easy and fun to make, especially when you get to play with the cookie cutters. Since it's Christmas time, I decided to go with animal shapes, Christmas trees and stars! :)

Firstly, TELL ME YOU NOTICE THE ANIMAL FARM/FOREST-THEME!! With the trees and animals and all! No? Okay... Let's move on! I decided to make two batches of different flavours, Earl Grey Tea and Sakura & Green Tea. The Earl Grey cookies had a more distinct flavour while the latter was pretty subtle, so you get the best of both worlds~ Either way, they were really crumbly, like shortbread cookies should be! (So yay!)

I also love how versatile shortbread cookies can be. You can literally choose anything to spice it up~ I decided to go with tea because I think they go well together. :) So yup, if you ever decide to make these (which I strongly encourage you to!), go ahead and find different types of teas to mix in the dough. Use about 3-4 teabags, and here's the recipe that I used just so you get a better idea. :) If you aren't sure if the amount of tea is enough, smell the dough for a distinct tea scent. (Weird but it works wonder!!) I've done this with quite a number of tea flavours and they've all turned out pretty well. :)

Anyway because I wasn't initially planning to bake these, I'll apologise for the sloppy photos and lack of things to say, but let's move on to the chocolate biscotti! :)

Let's just say not all chocolate biscotti are created equal. Especially not mine!! I guess it was a technical error that I made, but I'm still rather proud of it! By the way, is there a plural for biscotti? Because biscottis just doesn't sound right. Haha. I've been thinking about this for a while, not that it really matters. But some things just gets to you, you know? You must be wondering what's going on in my brain, haha.

Anyway, let's just move on to the fun part, making them!

Following David Lebovitz's recipe, who is someone you might have heard me mention before because he is my ~Pastry God~, I got down to business!

Mix the dry ingredients.

Mix the wet ingredients.

Mix the dry AND wet ingredients and...

TADAAAA- The dough is born! After that, roll them into two logs, which is... Where I went wrong, if I'm not wrong! Haha. After the first bake, the logs cracked like so.. :(

Tragic!!! However, I went ahead because well, not all hope is lost, and I feel that it's always better to be confident and keep the faith while baking! (The baked goods can sense your fear... Trust me.) After letting them cool for 15 minutes, it was time to cut the biscottis. Needless to say, the cracks spelled trouble.

That is, in fact, a ruler you see. I'm all about precision sometimes.

This was the amount of crumbs I had left thanks to the cracks! I'm still unsure of what to do with them, but just a tip, make sure to use a serrated bread knife to cut them (which I did not have and proceeded to use a really lame knife) and also, don't ignore the instructions to press the logs gently! It definitely pays to be gentle~

Anyway, I'm not fond of taking pictures during the process (because I'm horrible at multi-tasking), so after the 2nd bake, we have biscotti!

Perfect when dipped in coffee! It's like oreo all grown up. :')

Biscotti are definitely not soft and chewy. Quite the opposite, actually. Which is why they are also called coffee biscuits! They'll soften in coffee and become so veryyyy delicious~

Also, one thing about biscotti is that it doesn't have any butter, and the only fat is from the three eggs. So if you're the health conscious type but still love a good snack, biscotti can be your best friend! Let's just ignore the sugar part though... But as Nicolette once told me, when making desserts, just go all out!

Before I end off, I do need to remind you that if you were to attempt this recipe, use good quality Cocoa Powder, as it'll make a world of difference. If you're wondering where to get it, do leave a message on this blog and I'll let you know! :) I promise it's rather inexpensive, cheaper than cocoa powder in supermarkets, in fact.

So yup, I'll leave you with this crunchy and chocolatey treat! Hope you'll give it a try and thank you for reading! :) Stay tuned for more on Tarts and Stuff!

Sayonara!~

Nat