High altitudes make cookies spread in the pan, cakes fall, and few baked goods turn out as they do at sea level. This twice-monthly column presents recipes and tips that make baking in the mountains successful. 

Chicken mole enchiladas are a favorite of mine. The combination of red chili sauce enhanced by a hit of chocolate creates a complex and pleasing flavor I can’t resist. So, when I came across a biscotti recipe that blends chocolate and chili powder, I had to try it and, in fact, found it so intriguing that I made several variations. I always used the same amount of unsweetened cocoa powder but altered the quantity of dried, ground ancho chili that I combined with it. I learned that, depending on the amount, the chili can simply add depth to the taste of chocolate without being recognizable or equal the chocolate in strength, creating a striking contract between sweet and fiery flavors. The 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili specified in the recipe below have a mild impact on the taste of the cookies. Alter it to your liking. 

The cookies are at their best three to four days after baking, so make them ahead of serving if you can.

Chocolate-chili biscotti

Make on a parchment-lined shiny metal cookie sheet. Yields 12 3-inch biscotti.

1 cup unbleached flour, spoon and level

3 tablespoons Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, preferably superfine

1 1/2 tablespoons ancho chili powder

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Optional drizzle

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon canola oil

Get ready: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center position. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Set the bowl aside.

Make dough: Melt the butter by cutting it into 8 pieces, placing them in a microwave safe mixing bowl, and heating them in a microwave oven at a low temperature. Remove the bowl from the oven and use an electric mixer to beat in the sugar and ancho chili powder until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until smooth. Use a low speed to stir in the flour mixture. Lastly, incorporate the nuts and chocolate chips by hand, using a silicone spatula, until they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. If the dough is sticky and hard to work with, let it rest for 10-15 minutes so it firms up and becomes easier to manage.

Form log: Move the dough to the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a 12-inch log, then flatten it slightly so it’s about 1-inch thick. 

Bake: Move the pan to the oven and bake until the dough is set and partially baked, (it should maintain its shape if you carefully pick it up), about 25-30 minutes. It may develop a crack in the top as it bakes, no worries, this is normal for biscotti. Remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. 

Slice the dough into cookies: Gently move the log of dough to a cutting board and, using a very sharp serrated knife, cut it diagonally into 3/4-inch pieces. Rather than pushing the knife straight down into the dough, hold the sides of the dough and saw gently, trying to maintain the shape of each cookie.

Bake again and cool: Return the slices to the parchment-lined cookie sheet, standing them on their flat bottoms and leaving at least 1/2-inch between cookies. Move the pan to the oven and bake again until the sides are dry and crisp, 20-25 more minutes. Place the cookies on a rack to cool completely.

Add chocolate drizzle, optional: Melt the chopped chocolate in a microwave until only a few small lumps of chocolate are visible. Remove it from the oven, stir in the canola oil, and set it aside to thicken slightly. Drizzle it decoratively over the tops of the cooled cookies. Let the chocolate firm up (placing the cookies in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes will speed this up). 

Serve and store: Serve the biscotti or store it, covered, at cool room temperature, for a week.

Vera Dawson’s column “High Country Baking” publishes biweekly in the Summit Daily News. Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks. Her recipes have been tested in her kitchen in Frisco, where she’s lived since 1991, and altered until they work at elevation. Contact her at veradawson1@gmail.com.