I am a coffee lover! Regular coffee, hot coffee drinks, cold coffee drinks I enjoy them all. Making coffee drinks at home has been something I have enjoyed for many years. Being a Frugal Mom I try to find ways to have store quality items I can make in my own home. One of the treats I always enjoy with coffee is Biscotti. I love to dip it in warm coffee and eat along side a cold coffee drink, I do admit I dip it in cold coffee drinks too.
I have always wanted to make a home made biscotti but thought it was beyond my cooking skills. I found that it is not at all, it was fairly simple! I am so excited I now know how to make it and plan to make more varieties using different flavors of Ambiance coffee along with different mix ins. I like to buy Ambiance coffee from Smart & Final since it is reasonably priced and comparable to the other brands I have tried. The Ambiance House Blend is a great go to coffee for drinking, baking with and making coffee drinks. I found a few recipes for Biscotti and adapted it to what I like for flavors and made a few short cuts.
Chocolate Almond Coffee Biscotti
2 cups First Street all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon First Street baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup Ambiance House Blend strong coffee, cooled
1 First Street large egg
1 teaspoon First Street vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup First Street Milk Chocolate chips
1/2 cup First Street slivered almonds
In a small bowl whisk together the coffee, milk, egg and vanilla extract. I pre-made the coffee and allowed it to cool before making the biscotti.
In a separate larger bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Slowly add the coffee egg mixture until a dough forms, add the slivered almonds and chocolate chips towards the end of mixing it into a dough.
On a lightly floured surface shape the ball of dough into a long log shape. I like big biscotti but if you want smaller ones you can make the dough into two small logs. Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until firm to the touch . Remove from oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes. You can place them on a wire rack or cool in the pan like I did.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees cut the log crosswise on the diagonal into 3/4 inch slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes on each side until lightly golden. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy with your Ambiance Coffee!
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| They are perfectly crunchy to be able to dip them in coffee and not fall apart. |
To go with my delicious Biscotti I decided to make a Hot Coffee Drink using Hazelnut Ambiance Coffee. Hazelnut is my favorite of the Ambiance coffees at Smart & Final.
Hazelnut Chocolate Hot Coffee Drink
1 cup hot Hazelnut Ambiance coffee
1/4 cup First Street Milk Chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons of sugar (sweeten as desired)
1-2 drops of First Street Vanilla
Brew a cup of Hazelnut Ambiance coffee. Brew stronger than normal for a bold coffee taste in your drink. I use a coffee press when I make coffee drinks to make a stronger coffee flavor.
Roughly chop 1/4 cup of First Street Chocolate chips so they will melt easier. You can use Milk or Dark chips. I like the milk chocolate for the sweeter taste. Add 1/3 cup milk to a pan to warm the milk and melt the chocolate chips. (If you have a microwave and want to it can be done in there as well.) Add 1-2 drops of First Street Vanilla to the milk chocolate mixture.
Pour the warm milk and chocolate mixture into your cup of Hazelnut Ambiance coffee. Stir in sugar as desired. I used a coffee press so I had a stronger brew that required extra sweetening. Grate a few chocolate chips to add a dusting of chocolate to the top of your coffee drink.
This cup of Hazelnut Chocolate Coffee is perfect to dip your Chocolate Almond Coffee Biscotti into!
Since I love coffee drinks so much I had to make another coffee drink using my House Blend Ambiance Coffee! This time I wanted to make a cold drink. We have been oddly having spring like weather in California and a cold coffee house style drink is perfect.
Iced Caramel Coffee
1 cup Ambiance House Blend Coffee strongly brewed then cooled
1 cup Ambiance House Blend coffee cubes
1 tablespoon of Torani Classic Caramel syrup
1/3 cup milk
1 table spoon sugar (add more as needed for taste preference)
Caramel sauce for drizzle
Before making this drink brew a few cups of Ambiance House Blend Coffee and allow it to cool. Once cooled pour the coffee into ice cube trays to make coffee ice cubes. This will make your iced coffee drink have more of a coffee flavor and not a watered down one like I have found at some coffee houses.
After the Ambiance Coffee ice cubes are made its time to make your Iced Caramel Coffee drink. To make the ice cubes easier to blend I crush them in a baggie first. Next add your crushed cubes and 1 cup of cooled coffee to a blended. Then add the milk, caramel syrup and sugar to the blender.
Blend the drink on high for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and add Caramel sauce to the top if the drink.
My Iced Caramel Coffee Drink taste great for a low price! I love making home made coffee drinks and being my own Barista! #MyBaristaMoment Smart & Final is a great place to find all the coffee and baking products I need in one place for my coffee supplies.
Right now from Smart & Final if you make the switch to Ambiance coffee from Smart & Final you can go to www.smartandfinal.com/
Ambiance2012
enter the code on the receipt from their purchase of Ambiance and be entered to win some of these amazing prizes: First Prize (one grand prize per week, 3 total over the campaign): DeLonghi BCO264B Cafe Nero Combo Coffee/Espresso Maker, a $200 value!, or one of six $50 SmartCash cards (Two winners per week, 6 winners total)
Plus when you visit www.smartandfinal.com/
Ambiance2012
you will be able to vote for your favorite Ambiance Coffee recipe and everyone who votes will be entered for a chance to win $50 worth of Ambiance products! (6 winners - Two winners per week over the campaign)
Dont forget to vote for my recipe while your visiting the Ambiance site :)
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Collective Bias.
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All opinions expressed in this shop are my own and your experience may vary.
