The Bakinglady 

Today is the sort of day, for curling up on the sofa with a good book, a mug of frothy coffee and something yummy to dunk... the king of dunkers has to be a biscotti ❤️ It's crisp enough to suck up just the right amount of coffee, with just the right balance of chocolatey sweetness to satisfy the tastebuds. Heaven in every crunchy bite ❤️❤️❤️

What you need

380g self raising flour

100g chopped hazelnuts

100g plain chocolate - finely chopped

150g butter

230g caster sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 medium eggs whisked in a small bowl

1 heaped teaspoon of instant coffee granules

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

To decorate

100g milk chocolate

Whit chocolate stars

What you do

Preheat the oven to 160c for a fan oven or 180c for a regular oven and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.

Place the flour, caster sugar and salt into a large bowl and stir with your hand then break up the butter into large lumps and rub the mixture between your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the chopped hazelnuts and using your hand, stir again. Now add the coffee and vanilla essence to the whisked up eggs - leave for a minute or two to dissolve - then add to the dry ingredients, combining the mixture with a fork until it starts to clump together and then use your hand at the end to form it into a soft dough.

Divide the mixture into two equal sized pieces ( approximately 530g each), shape into log shapes about 8” long and 1” high and place onto the prepared tray with plenty of space around and between them- they will rise and expand on baking so make sure they have lots of room to grow. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until the logs are golden brown and fairly firm to the touch, then remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes (don’t walk away and forget them, they must be cut whilst still warm or they will be almost impossible to cut thinly). Turn the oven down at this point to 140c if you are using a fan assisted or 160c for a regular oven.

Once the logs have cooled down for 5 minutes cut into slices 1cm thick (you might find it easiest with a finely serrated bread knife) and place back onto the tray, pop the biscotti back into the reduced heat oven for a further 20-30 minutes or until they are a light golden brown colour and are lovely and crisp, remove and cool on a wire rack.

Once all the biscotti are baked and cool , lay them on a fresh sheet of paper on your work surface. Break up the chocolate into a small heat proof bowl, melt carefully over hot, not boiling water then drizzle the top of each biscuit with the melted chocolate, sprinkle with the white chocolate stars and leave to set .