Cookie Carnival :: October Round up and November Cookie

another month down! and we did this one in style, ladies. i loved this biscotti from giada. it was classy, tasty and slightly addictive, i found.

sadly i have no pictures to share. i can't talk about it. digital camera debacle, let's just say.

thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge. it was a low turn-out, but we got some really pretty looking biscotti here....

**for the november challenge head down to the bottom of the post**

karen of short bread south had this to say, "Fun, festive, addictively crunchy and just right for the Holidays." read the rest of her post here.

gala of purple cookie used white chocolate and had this to say,"I loved the combination of both lemon and orange zest with white chocolate... " read her post here.

stormie of bite size baker had this to say, "This is a recipe I plan on baking again and again. It was absolutely wonderful." read her post here.

tessa of cookin' chemist had this to say, "biscotti is a new venture for me. In fact, every single recipe I've made along with the other bakers in the Cookie Carnival has been a new recipe." yay! that's the spirit! read her post here.

nathalie of Snowbell Jewelry played along even tho she has a major citrus/chocolate aversion--thanks for trying something new nathalie! read her post here.

juliana of horneAndo Algo made up a pretty batch of biscotti. read her post here.

sabiilaa participated this month, but her blog post wouldn't work for some reason, so sadly, i have no link for you.

christine at whimsical bakery played along this month-- read her post here.

after putting it to a vote, we have a winning cookie for November. i'm totally psyched because if this one hadn't won, i would have had to make it anyway :: PECAN PIE COOKIES! thanks to Jen from Beantown Baker for submitting that one! you can find the recipe on her blog.

last year i took January off from the Carnival and realized later that i should have taken December. everyone was so busy in December (including me) that we didn't have much of a Carnival, so i'll be taking December off this year. because of that, i'm extending the November challenge into December.

so, send me your photo and link by DECEMBER 5th @ 7PM EST to be included in the round-up!

now let's go make some pecan pie! cookies!

Cookie Carnival :: October Challenge!

it's Carnival time again! thanks to all of you who participated in the September challenge. the round-up will be on the blog really soon--maybe even later today.

for October i have chosen a recipe that i have been eyeing for a long time. finally it jumped out as the right one for this month. i hope you agree that it sounds like a good fall cookie. and it will be fun to make, too, i think.

so.

this month we'll be baking up Giada's Chocolate Citrus Biscotti. the recipe can be found here. and *bonus!* there's a video too. i haven't watched it yet, but i'm sure it's helpful.

a couple other things to mention--please make sure to follow the file naming and sizing protocol as it pertains to submitting photos. i know there's a couple of you who haven't figured out re-sizing, but if you can work it out that'd be great. check the FAQs for how to name files.

also--always send the link to me even if it's later than the deadline. many times i'm running behind and can still include you. i always will if i can! that being said, the deadline is 7PM EST on OCT. 31! boo!

thanks and happy october everyone.

cookie carnival :: august round-up!

it's the last carnival of the summer. and what a yummy way to end the season! it seems that most of the carnivalers this month liked this cookie as much as did.




i (like many of you) have never made biscotti, which was part of what made it fun. it's always a good time in the kitchen when i am doing something new. unless i muck it up. but fortunately, this time, i did not.

i've never been a huge fan of biscotti, but i can't really ever argue with the chocolate hazelnut combo. and love coffee. LOVE coffee. so, it seemed like a good match. hot coffee, yummy dipping cookie. what's not to love?

this recipe surprised me, though. for me, it yielded a more moist cookie than i was expecting. it seems like biscotti is "supposed" to be really dry and somewhat hard. these were not. so, i wonder is it just about leaving them in the oven longer or what?

while contamplating this choice for the august carnival i learned that in italian biscotti means "biscuit." to be more specific they are named for the baking method. "bis" means twice and "cotto" means baked. i had no idea that this is how they were made. see...the cookie carnival is not only fun, it's educational!

here is the recipe we all used. as usual there were many of you who tweaked the recipe a bit here and there. which i totally encourage.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT BISCOTTI

ingredients
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, husked
3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Grind 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts in processor. Set aside. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and sugar in another large bowl to blend. Add eggs and vanilla and almond extracts and beat until well blended. Beat in flour mixture. Mix in 1 cup whole toasted hazelnuts, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts.

Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece on baking sheet into 2 1/2-inch-wide by 14-inch-long log. Place logs on prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart (logs will spread during baking). Bake until logs feel firm when tops are gently pressed, about 35 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Using long wide spatula, transfer baked logs to cutting board. Using serrated knife, cut warm logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Arrange slices, cut side down, on 2 baking sheets. Bake biscotti until firm, about 15 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely. (Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.)

T H E R O U N D - U P
thanks to everyone who participated this month!
(photo appears *ABOVE* the corresponding entry IF it was provided)

ellyn of Recipe Collector and Taster experimented with egg whites instead of whole eggs. read her post here to find out how and why!!


giz at Equal Opportunity Kitchen played along this month. (BIG apologies for leaving her off the roundup.) she's a self-confessed biscotti lover. read her post here.



lynn of Bites and Pieces forgot to add both the baking soda and powder. eek! read her post here to find out how that went.



sara angel of My Sweetest Day had the same problem i *always* do. the recipe didn't yeild as many as it said it would. what's up with that? read her post here.


brook of And a Cookie For Dessert (i keep thinking her blog should be called "brookie jar" it's either really stupid or really cute. i can't tell.) had this to say,"I really enjoyed making these - it was exciting to see the logs rise up in the oven and then slicing into them for the second baking." read the rest of her post here.

julie of Someone's In The Kitchen can't stand hazelnuts. . . which i just can't even comprehend! read her post here. (no pic)


charlotte of Taylor Loves Chocolate feels she failed at the biscotti. sorry charlotte! read her post here to find out the full story.


rayrena of Happy Cows is funny. this is the first line of her post, "Is there a better excuse for coming out of blogger hibernation? Chocolate. Hazelnut. Biscottti." read her post here. (and welcome her--it's her first carnival.)

michelle at Culinography was the only one (i think) to replace the hazelnuts with peanuts. read her post here. (and welcome her--it's her first carnival.)


mary ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen had this to say, "These were great, an easy first time biscotti making experience for me. I will probably make these again because everyone here love the combination of hazelnuts and chocolate!" read her post here. (and welcome her, she's a first timer at the carnival.)


kitty at Boring History Girl says, "Now, there are two major problems with this recipe. Firsly the dough is so seriously delicious that you may be forced to eat it all before it even makes it into the oven." read the rest of her post here. she's a lot of fun, you won't be disapointed!


steph at A Whisk and A Spoon wows me with her photography again. she has a lovely style and i enjoy her writing a lot. read her post here.


susan of Slice of Sueshe had a minor kitchen disaster. she also did some fun tweaking (almonds, white chocolate..), which to me, is so fun! i love getting emails from all of you and seeing what you have done this month. read her post here.


jacque at Daisy Lane Cakes writes and awesome and chuckle-inducing post (thanks for that!) here is what she had to say about the "once baked" biscotti (she saved some to eat before sending the rest back to the oven) They were awesome! I loved them so much I wanted to marry them. read the rest here.

megan of Megan's Cookin' deems these unworthy of her Christmas baskets. read her post here to find out why.


stacey of Simply Tasty also did some tweaking to the recipe. stacey used white chocolate chips and also melted and drizzled as you can see. she also cut back on the almond extract and used almonds instead of hazelnuts. read her post here. she actually comes back to the post days later to update you on how the biscotti went over. it's fun!

temperance of High On The Hog chose pecans rather than hazelnuts. she had never had biscotti much less baked it. until now. read her post here.


michelle of Something New is Cooking played along this month and she and her family loved the cookies she baked. read her post here.



christine of Cooking With Christine has also never had biscotti before much less made it herself. here is what she had to say,"Biscotti is AMAZING!!! Sure, it's crunchy, but it's not a traditional cookie. So, if you are from the "soft & chewy" cookie club like me, don't be afraid." read the rest of her post here.


natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies is one of us biscotti-makin' virgins. she confesses to not being a biscotti lover. until now. read her post here.


april of Abby Sweets played a long this month. and she was one of the many who replaced the hazelnuts she chose pecans. here is what she had to say, "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn it down if it was offered to me, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it either." read the rest of her post here.