Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
I’ve lost count of how many biscotti recipes I have made and posted. Do you want to know which of them is my very favorite? Well, the answer is whichever one I’m eating at the time, LOL. Biscotti are in my DNA, and it’s virtually impossible for me to pick the #1 be all, end all favorite!
Cranberry pistachio biscotti have a fairly common and popular flavor profile, and I was slow to getting around to making and posting them. Once I did, however, I made them four times in a row in the space of six weeks. The first time I made them, the biscotti disappeared way too quickly. I decided to increase the recipe by 50% to get three dozen biscotti rather than the original two dozen which didn’t last very long. After the second batch, I decided to make a care package for my adult kids to enjoy. They’re coffee drinkers and have enjoyed dunking biscotti (in much diluted coffee) since they were kids. I was happy to send the package off but sad that hubby and I didn’t have any left, so I made a fourth batch.
These biscotti are everything you could want in one. They are both crunchy and chewy with a little sweet hit from the dried cranberries. If you’re not a fan of cranberries, you can leave them out. The biscotti are equally enjoyable and become a little bit crunchier without the cranberries. The last two times I’ve made them, I made half the recipe with and the other half without. I enjoy them both equally, and so does hubby. As with most biscotti, you could always drizzle some melted chocolate—either white or dark—on them. I haven’t tried that yet, but I think the version without cranberries would be particularly good with a white chocolate drizzle.
Time to put on a pot of coffee…
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Makes approximately 3 dozen biscotti
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- 3/8 tsp. salt
- 3/8 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp. almond extract
- Finely grated orange zest from 1 large orange
- 1 cup pistachios (can be either salted or unsalted)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter until lighter in texture. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until fully blended. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the vanilla/almond extracts and orange zest and mix until combined. With the beater on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until the dough starts to clump together. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix in the pistachios and cranberries. Gather the dough into a ball and then divide it into quarters. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to ensure that it is easy to handle.
After chilling, using lightly floured hands, shape each of the four pieces of dough into rectangular logs about 10 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide each. Place two logs on each of the prepared sheets, making sure the logs are at least 2 inches apart on the sheets.
Bake for 30 minutes, switching shelves and rotating the sheets from front to back about halfway through baking. The logs should be nicely golden and the tops should feel mostly firm when gently pressed. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and reduce the oven temperature to 325° F.
After 10 minutes of cooling, carefully peel one of the logs off the parchment paper and transfer it to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife in a long sawing motion, cut the log on a slight diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Place the biscotti, bottom side down, back on the baking sheet. Repeat with the other logs. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until lightly toasted. Check them at around the 10-minute mark as you may made need to lightly cover them with foil to prevent over browning. I’ve had to do that each time I’ve made them. Remember that the biscotti will crisp even more as they cool.
Transfer the biscotti to the rack to cool. You can store the biscotti in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze them for up to 2 months.
Source: An adapted recipe from Leite’s Culinaria