Bags of Biscotti

The baking bug struck last weekend and left me with bags of biscotti which I'll be giving a gifts during the holiday season.

I baked 2 kinds of biscotti: 1) cranberry-n-pistachio & 2) apricot-n-almond. I used a recipe from Bon Appétit—Holiday Biscotti with Cranberries and Pistachios. I swapped orange peel for lemon peel, because I like the cranberry and orange flavor combo more than the cranberries and lemons pairing—I've said this before. I also omitted aniseed, because I forgot to get some at the grocery store. Although I didn't necessarily miss it, I think it would had added something "extra special" to the biscotti and I want to be sure to use it when I make this recipe again, sometime, if there's a next time.

For the apricot and almond version, I used them instead cranberries and pistachios, in the same amounts, and I left out the lemon peel and aniseed which I never had.




HOLIDAY BISCOTTI WITH CRANBERRIES AND PISTACHIOS

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon whole aniseed
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
3/4 cup shelled natural unsalted pistachios
6 ounces imported white chocolate, chopped 


Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend well. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lemon peel, vanilla, and aniseed. Beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in cranberries and pistachios (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into 15-inch-long log (about 1 1/4 inches wide). Carefully transfer logs to 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart.

Bake logs until almost firm to touch but still pale, about 28 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet 10 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Carefully transfer logs still on parchment to cutting board. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, cut logs crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place slices, 1 cut side down, on remaining 2 prepared sheets. Bake until firm and pale golden, about 9 minutes per side.

Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

(I didn't dip my biscotti in white chocolate, but you want to the directions are below.)

Line another baking sheet with waxed paper. Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water just until smooth. Remove from over water. Dip 1 end of each cookie into melted chocolate, tilting pan if necessary; shake off excess chocolate.

Place cookies on prepared sheet. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)

 Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.


Bon Appétit, 
December 2003

Cookie Itch

I got the itch to bake last Friday night after other plans to go out didn't materialize. And I always keep a bag of chocolate chips in the house for such situations. I didn't have any pecans—my preferred nut when baking—so tossed in a bag of dried cherries instead. I like the combination of chocolate and fruit, but missed having nuts, too.

It was also a new recipe for me from Afternoon Delights, and I doubled it to use all my chips. If I were to do it again, I would cut back on the flour a scant. I prefer a moister, chewier cookie and these were more crumbly than I like.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix and set aside. In another bowl, combine butter and sugars. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well. Add flour mixture at low speed, mixing until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop heaping teaspoon of batter onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Repeat until all the dough is used.

Cool cookies on a rack. Store in an airtight container.

Eat as you wish—anytime, day or night.

Sugar and Spice

I know Fall is around the corner when my tastes turn to sugar and spice. I baked a batch of molasses ginger cookies over weekend, so cooler weather and shorter days aren't far behind.

I've been using this recipe for several years. It's makes a wonderfully spicy cookie that's crisp on the outside, yet tender, moist, and chewy in the middle. I enjoy them with milk at night and in the morning with coffee for breakfast.

Molasses Ginger Cookies

2-cups all-purpose flour.
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
2 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 coup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (lightly packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease baking sheets with oil or line with parchment paper.

Sift dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add molasses and mix until blended. Then add the egg and mixed until incorporated. Add dry ingredients, mix at lower speed until combined.

Drop dough in heaping tablespoons on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until they are soft in the middle, approx. 15 to 16 minutes. Cool cookies on a rack.

I can't wait to eat any cookies fresh from the oven, but these can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the freezer.

From Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed Jam Filled Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book. My old roommate from Grad. School gave me the book as a gift.

My notes
For this batch used light brown sugar, because I didn't have any dark brown sugar in my cupboard; and I omitted the allspice for the same reason. I like really spicy spice cookies, so my tablespoon and teaspoons of spices were more like heaping spoonfuls.