Chocolate and ginger biscotti

Serve these festive biscotti with a strong cup of coffee.

“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 Anja Dunk.

MAKES ABOUT 30

Ingredients

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

• 1tsp baking powder

• Pinch of fine sea salt

• 100g (½ cup) soft light brown sugar z 3 eggs

• 50g (1¾oz) dark chocolate, chopped z 50g (1¾oz) almonds, chopped z 75g (2½oz) candied ginger, chopped z 1–2tbsp demerara sugar, for sprinkling

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4/350F and line a large baking sheet 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.

3. Spoon the dough on to the lined sheet and shape into a log about 25 centimetres long and around eight to 10 centimetres 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 on to 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 sheet aside, ready for the second bake, and reduce oven temperature to 150C/130C Fan/ Gas Mark 2/300F. On a chopping board, and using a sharp serrated bread knife, cut the log into slices seven and a half millimetres thick. Arrange tightly on the lined baking sheet 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.