Chocolate and ginger biscotti: The easiest biscuits you will ever make

Serve these festive biscotti with a strong cup of coffee, says Ella Walker

Just mix all the ingredients together and bake – simple (PA)

“Double bake aside, these are the most simple biscuits you could ever make. All the ingredients just get mixed together with a wooden spoon in one large bowl before they are baked,” says food writer Anja Dunk.

Chocolate and ginger biscotti

Makes: About 30

Ingredients:

200g (1½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of fine sea salt

100g (½ cup) soft light brown sugar

3 eggs

50g (1¾oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped

50g (1¾oz) almonds, chopped

75g (2½oz) candied ginger, chopped

1-2 tbsp demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F and line a large baking tray with nonstick baking parchment.

2. Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and stir them together with a wooden spoon until a dense, damp dough forms.

‘Advent’ is packed with a whole slew of festive German bakes (Quadrille)

3. Spoon the dough onto the lined sheet and shape into a log about 25cm long and around 8 to 10cm in diameter. The dough is pretty tacky and so won’t look all that neat, but will even out in the oven. Sprinkle demerara over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm to the touch and just golden – it should be cooked through but not hard, more like a firm sponge in texture with a crisper outer edge.

4. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely – this is important as the chocolate also needs to be cool before you cut the biscuits or they will end up being a streaky mess.

5. Set the lined baking tray aside, ready for the second bake, and reduce the oven temperature to 150C/130C fan/300F. On a chopping board, and using a sharp serrated bread knife, cut the log into slices 7.5mm thick. Arrange tightly on the lined baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, turning them all over halfway through, until crisp on both sides.

6. Take out of the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Stored in an airtight container; these will keep for a month or more.

Recipe from ‘Advent: Festive German Bakes To Celebrate The Coming Of Christmas’ by Anja Dunk (published by Quadrille, £25; photography by Anja Dunk), available now.