Sharon visited on behalf of Borges who recently announced it’s entry in the Indian market with the launch of its flagship product Olive Oil. It launched 3 variants – Extra Virgin, Extra Light and Pure Olive Oil. I missed the launch since I was out of town, and the lovely lady came by so see me with a bag of the different variants. Olive oil has seen an upsurge in the Indian market of late, and there have been hectic promotions on many fronts, including this one at the European Art of Taste. {I was mildly surprised to hear exclamations at EAT when I said I use olive oil in desserts and baking.} A lot of folk here don’t associate olive oil with desserts / sweet stuff, but I’ve made Cocoa Cherry Dessert Brownies, Pistachio Olive Oil Brownies, Orange and Olive Oil Cake, Chocolate Buckwheat Lime Tart among other things.
Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Adapted minimally from David Lebovitz
30-35 cookies
Use a good-quality cocoa powder. You can use natural or Dutch-process for these, whichever one you like. Just remember that the chocolate flavor of the finished cookies is dependent on the quality of cocoa powder you use…. read more
2 cups flour
3/4 cups top-quality cocoa powder {I used Valrhona}
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 small eggs, at room temperature
1/8cup olive oil {I used Borges}
1 cup vanilla sugar, or plain granulated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped {optional}
1 cup almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
3/4 cups chocolate chips {I used dark}
For the glaze
1 egg white
1 sachet vanilla sugarMethod:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake a cookie sheet with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, olive oil, vanilla beans, vanilla extract and almond essence if using.
Fold the dry ingredients, chopped almonds and chocolate chips in the wet mix till well incorporated, and the cookie dough comes together.
Divide the dough into half, and form into logs using slightly damp hands. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. bake for 25 minutes or until the dough feels firm. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.Slice and place sides down on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm. Cool completely and store in an airtight box.Davids’ notes : Once baked, cool the cookies completely then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If you wish, the cookies can be half-dipped in melted chocolate, then cooled until the chocolate hardens.
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OMg that looks truly tempting..i am simply drooling over the chocolate biscotti before going to sleep..
Now tat is truely chocolatey…agree wit u, good quality ingredients can do wonders to the final product..
These looks see..riously tempting and inviting!! And so so chocolaty!
I am dumb struck with the pictures.. awesome …
Those biscotti look awesome! Good cacao makes all the difference…
Cheers,
Rosa
Deeba, these look so good. I love Davids recipes too. Such fantastic photography!
If you saw my last attempt at slicing biscotti, you will think that yours are fabulous! Well, I think they are.. and haha I totally empathise with getting excited over Valrhona!
i want to grab a few of those on this very rainy afternoon… i'll even settle for coffee!
Love your biscuits – very lovely chocolate colour. Cooking and baking in S'pore is starting to hurt my pocket – everything is so expensive here, well except the local products. Recently our eyes bulged at the price tag of emmental cheese & pepperoni here.
Deeba, the biscotti looks delicious. Sometime back I posted a biscotti recipe based on your earlier post on biscotti. I must say the recipe you posted is a winner.
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe.
Awesome biscotti!! The color is quite tempting for a chocolate lover like me
Bookmarked it 
Yes, even I have used olive oil to bakes n desserts n have used home-made virgin coconut oil too.
Delicious! Looks absolutely incredible.
Oooh, they look amazing and rich Deeba. And what fun to get a visit from a lady bearing gifts
I'm not usually a fan of biscotti, but this one looks impossible to resist. I'm going to have to look for some Valrhona.
Like that you used olive oil in the recipe. So many times, I'd much rather use that than butter especially in cakes. They come out so much more moister and if you use the regular EV variety, there is little other evidence of it!
Chocolate, olive oil, what's not to love Deeba!When and if I bake I often use olive oil in my baking sice I usually only have olive and grapeseed oils in my cupboards. I love what they do to a cake's texture and flavour.
Lovely, lovely photos! I have always wanted to figure out all the fuss about Vahlrona, but I can't bring myself to buy it.
You're tempting me though!
These look SOOOO tasty!
Great looking biscotti. They are beautiful.
I left my job for school recently and one of the random small things I miss is stopping by the bookstore/cafe for a crunchy biscotti and large cuppa coffee. These look perfect.
Oh I can totally understand the fuss about Valrhona, even though I haven't had the chance to try them ever!
Looks so heavenly….fallen aback by the snaps…those are just awesome…
Perfect!! I heart biscotti
this was in my mind ever sinc ei saw it at david leite….nice one deeba.
Chocolates and almonds yum combo..ur clicks are wonderful
I love that you use olive oil in your baking, Deeba! That is intriguing to me, and something I will need to experiment with.
Hope you have a gorgeous day! 
I adore Biscotti. My brother is also a Chef and a fabulous Biscotti (amongst other morsels) cook, so I'm off now to visit him armed with your recipe so see if he knows anything about this Valrhona as it looks absolutely wonderful. Must have.
– its really good isn't it.
I've been using Olive Oil in cakes now for sometime (well., some cakes…., sometimes nothing but butter will do
Cheers
Anna
really a tempting biscuits…
http://www.akilaskitchen.blogspot.com
A real chocolaty treat Deeba!! Excellent clicks.
Deeba,
Your blog is always so fantastic. I want to be just like you when I grow up ! Seriously-this is a great recipe and you make it even more delicious ! Beautiful..
Sandy
Chocolate almond is a favorite ice-cream flavor so I know this would be perfectly delicious! Yum
Dear Deeba, lovely biscotti!! gloria
I have made these, they are delish! I love most things, David Lebovitz! I have not made biscotti in a while….hmmm, may be on the agenda tomorrow. yours look lovely!
good chocolate makes all the difference that is for sure. i love shyama too and she's a star to send you a bag – what you created is awesome!
mmm this looks really good! But I, of course, dont have any fancy coco powder :p
hopefully it'll taste good without?
Thanks, Deeba for the 'honourable mention' a star pastry chef like you has to try Valrhona- how could you not? The biscotti look scrummy- would love one with a cup of chai this morning. xxx
@Meeta Love ya' back. x shayma
I love the dark color of your biscotti. Even if you didn't know there was Vahlrona cocoa in it, you can tell it's going to be chocolaty
) I like your use of olive oil in the biscotti.
Hi Deeba, I have been following your blog for a couple of months and have the entire office drooling over your yummy pictured. I made these yesterday and they were yum. I have been making a mental note of all the recipes i have to try and i guess this one cam up first.I made them with good old cadbury's and they were pretty awesum so i can imagine wat and good quality cocoa must be doing to it.
thanks a ton
Awesome job. Great pictures too. I love biscotti, and my favorite recipe for it is Brownie Biscotti. Thanks for sharing!
When you say cup size in your recipes what size are we using? Is it a 200ml cup that you are using or bigger.
when should we add the 1 cup sugar ..?is tat used for sprinkling or do i need to add with the egg and beat?