Chocolate Dipped Choc Orange Biscotti (Vegan, Zero Waste, Gift Idea)

When I am pressed for time or don’t really plan my meals ahead of time or just feel like making something out of the blue that require beans/pulses/chickpeas, I tend to use canned beans/pulses/chickpeas. But I find it a waste to simply throw out the liquid from the can (aka aquafaba) in particular in my efforts towards zero waste. So, I tend to keep this aquafaba and use it in my baking. Aquafaba is used in many vegan baking recipes and it is typically used in place of eggs in normal baking recipes. A typical conversion of egg to aquafaba measurement is shown in the table below.

Normal Baking Recipes	Vegan Baking Recipes
1 egg	3 tbsp aquafaba
1 egg white	2 tbsp aquafaba

So, after making this roasted pumpkin, kale and cannelini bean fritter using a can of cannelini beans, I kept the aquafaba and used it to make this chocolate dipped chocolate orange biscotti. This recipe is very similar to my vegan seeds and fruit biscotti that I made last year but better because they are chocolate flavoured and dipped in chocolate. And chocolate makes everything better, right? Also, these biscottis make great gift ideas such as for the upcoming mother’s day – I am sure your mom would love it (and appreciate it) if you gave her these homemade zero waste chocolate dipped chocolate orange biscottis for mother’s day rather than a store bought packet of cookies! Or better still, have it all for yourself – I did, I had it for afternoon tea all week. So go ahead and try this recipe 🙂

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have. As always, please let me know what you think of this recipe. If you like what you see on this blog, you can follow me on my blog, Facebook or Instagram for some food porn. Also, if you do recreate this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @subz_foodie 🙂

Makes 40-45 delicious biscottis

Ingredients

For the Biscottis:

1.5 cups rolled oats;
3/4 cup wholemeal spelt flour (you can also use wholemeal/rye/buckwheat flour or normal white flour);
1/4 cup protein powder (I used peanut protein powder from Macro Mike but you can use pea/brown rice protein powder or more wholemeal/normal flour. Do not use whey protein as you will get rubbery biscotti);
1/4 cup cacao powder (or cocoa powder);
1/4 cup almonds, chopped;
1/2 cup dried citrus peels/apricots (chopped);
2 tbsp coconut sugar (you can use normal, coconut or brown sugar) – you can add more sugar if you like your biscotti sweeter (my biscuits/cakes are typically on the low sweetness scale);
Zest of 1 navel orange;
Juice of half a navel orange (2-3 tbsp);
1 tsp baking powder;
1 tsp vanilla essence; and
Just under 3/4 cup aquafaba (you should get enough from a 400g can of chickpeas).

For the Chocolate Dip:

100g chocolate of your choice (I used 50g dark chocolate and 50g milk chocolate; and
3-4 tsp milk of your choice (I used soy milk).

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper;
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the vanilla essence, orange juice and aquafaba and mix until well combined;
Then, add the aquafaba and vanilla essence and mix until well combined. The dough will be sticky now and this is normal;
On a floured surface, divide the dough in half. Form each dough into a log of approximately 1.5 inches thick;
Place the logs on the lined baking tray and bake for 30-45 minutes or until firm. The logs need to be firm, otherwise it will be difficult to cut them into biscottis;
Remove the logs from the oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Reduce the oven temperature to 150 degrees Celsius;
Cut the logs into biscottis of 0.5cm slices on a diagonal (you can have thicker biscottis but I prefer mine thinner). Make sure your knife is very sharp, otherwise it may may be difficult to cut the logs (I used a serrated knife (knife that you use to cut a loaf of bread);
Place the sliced biscottis on the lines baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. I also turn the biscottis over at the half way mark of 10 minutes;
Whilst the biscottis are cooling, line a tray with parchment paper. Then, make the chocolate dipping by melting the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. Then, add the milk to the melted chocolate and mix until well combined;
Once the biscottis are completely cool, dip them in the melted chocolate and place on the lined tray. Place the tray in the fridge for 45-60 minutes for the chocolate to set. Once the chocolate sets on the biscottis, place the biscotti in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one month; and
Enjoy with cup of tea for snack time or even for breakfast 🤤