Holiday Roundup: Gingerbread Biscotti

Here is one of the most successful recipes I made this year. I'm slightly obsessed with gingerbread/ holiday spices, so I decided to bake up some gingerbread biscotti-- a nice, crunchy and hearty cookie. People who didn't purportedly like biscotti even liked this recipe. Hands down its awesome!

Gingerbread Biscotti

1/3 cup softened butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 Eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
½ teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped

3/4 cup White Chocolate chips
(vegetable oil)
Dash of cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line 1 large cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. In a medium bowl mix together the flours, spices, salt, and baking powder.
3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is whipped. Cream the butter and brown sugar together, and the proceed to add in the eggs, molasses, and vanilla and mix until well combined.
3. Mix in about 1/2 of the flour mixture, until evenly incorporated. The mixture should still be somewhat liquidy. At this point add in the crystallized ginger and mix so it is evenly placed throughout the mixture.
4. Beat in the rest of the flour mixture until the dough is formed.
5. Divide dough in half and form each half into an elongated disk (sort of like an oval). Place them on the cookie sheet, spaced as far apart as possible. Put in the oven and bake for around 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes, take the disk out and let it cool till it is touchable but still soft, around 5 minutes. Proceed to cut the dough into 3/4 to1 inch slices. Put the biscotti wide side down on the cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes, take them out and flip them then bake for 8 more minutes.
7. Let the cookies cool completely. While this is happening, you can melt down the chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double broiler until it is completely melted and tempered (shiny and liquidy). If it is too thick, (this happened to me) add in a tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil and mix. This should fix the problem. Sprinkle in some cinnamon and mix it into the melted chocolate.
8. When the cookies are completely cool, dip the top side into the white chocolate and evenly cover it. Stand the cookie on its opposite side on the parchment paper and let dry. Repeat with entire batch. Once the chocolate has dried, enjoy!

Health Benefits!!

Ginger- relieves nausea and indigestion, prevents motion sickness, may help morning sickness, antispasmotic  properties help relieve cramps, useful in helping arthritis, can reduce cholesterol levels in blood, and it is an aphrodisiac ;-)
Cinnamon- lowers blood sugar levels, increases insulin production helping prevent type 2 diabetes, has an anti-clotting effect on the blood, smelling cinnamon alone improves cognitive functioning, fights E.Coli bacteria, has been shown to alleviate headache
Blackstrap Molasses- Yes, a sweetener that is GOOD for you! Unrefined and delicious, blackstrap molasses is a great source of iron (2 tsp provides you with a wopping 13% of your daily intake), it is also high in calcium (2 tsp will provide you with almost 12% of your daily intake). Also a good source of copper and manganese.
Whole Wheat Flour- High in fiber, high in   B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and iron. Has a TON more nutrients than white flour.





Sources:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54#healthbenefits

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=118&tname=foodspice
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/ 
http://www.organicauthority.com/health/11-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html