Peppermint Biscotti

I'm going to brag.  I am a good gift giver.  One of my good gift ideas this year ended up being my mom's favorite gift I got her for Christmas.  It was actually multiple gifts in one coffee "theme."  We live in the Midwest and go east every summer to Cape May, New Jersey.  We love many things there we can't experience here in the Midwest, one being Wawa.  We love their Hazelnut coffee and anytime we go we try to stock up on bags of it to bring back.  We have learned we can also order it from their website so now we can have get it anytime!

I bought my mom 2 bags of Wawa coffee and an "I (heart) Wawa" mug.  I made her a homemade biscotti-scented soy candle and homemade peppermint biscotti.  She loved the whole gift, but especially the biscotti and is already hinting at me making her more.

I got the recipe from here- http://www.thekitchn.com/edible-gift-biscotti-two-ways-133107.

I cut the recipe in half b/c it says they stay fresh about 2 weeks and got around 8 pieces out of it.  In half the recipe is-
1/2 stick softened butter
A little less than 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 candy canes crushed
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Wire cooling rack

Even with this 1/2 recipe it was too much chocolate and candy canes so I would use less next time.

In one bowl mix together the butter and sugar and then add the egg and then the peppermint extract.

In another bowl the flour, salt, & baking powder and then slowly add that with the dough mixture until it is all combined

Put parchment paper on a baking sheet and form the dough on it into a rectangle around 1 inch thick.  Bake it 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees (or until it is a light golden brown).

Take it out and let it cool on the cooling rack for 10 min. then cut it diagonally into pieces about 1/2 in thick.

Put these cut-side down back onto the parchment paper and bake for another 10-15 minutes.  1/2 way through I flipped the pieces otherwise they would have gotten too dark on one side (maybe my cheap pan or crappy oven, or maybe needed for all situations? not sure.).

I ended up baking it longer on one side than the other so one side was darker while the other was perfect.  The good thing about this recipe...one side needs to be covered in chocolate so I could hide the darker side and show off the perfect one! :)

Crush the candy canes. I did this in a blender.

And melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  (Here's a trick for you:  I don't have a double boiler and don't need to spend the money on one because I always do this- put some water in a pot.  Roll aluminum foil into balls big enough that the tops are above the water line.  Place a smaller pot on top of the foil balls.  It works like a double boiler.)

Spread the melted chocolate over one side of the biscotti and before it hardens sprinkle the crushed candy cane on top.