Christmas Biscotti

Mary in NJ's Note:

A colorful red and green dotted biscotti.. I love it and I don't really like biscotti. My mother said to make her this if nothing else for Christmas!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 48 cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 2 1/4 cups flour, all-purpose
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup raw pistachio nut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour a baking sheet.
3. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and orange zest until blended.
5. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cloves and salt.
6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until blended.
7. Stir in cranberries and pistachios.
8. Divide the dough in half.
9. One at a time, place the 2 dough portions on the prepared baking sheet and form each into a log about 1/2 inch high, 1 1/2 inches wide and 14 inches long.
10. Space logs at least 2 inches apart.
11. Bake the logs for 25-30 minutes or until set and light brown.
12. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool 6-8 minutes.
13. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
14. Using a very sharp knife, cut the logs in the diagonal into slices 3/8 inch thick.
15. Stand the slices upright on the baking sheet and return the sheet to the oven for 15 minutes to dry the cookies thoroughly.
16. Transfer to racks to cool.
17. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.

Reviews

[Chef #738454]

This is the first biscotti that I've ever made. It was excellent. I tried a serrated knive, and an electric knife, but what worked best was my Cutco butcher knife. I didn't "saw" I just pushed straight down. It worked perfectly. And, they ARE beautiful.

[Florida Cook]

Love them! Love them! Love them! I know they're Christmas Biscotti, but I'm Jewish and it's May and they're still good. =:) Thanks for the recipe!

[Cookin-jo]

Wonderful biscotti! The texture of these is perfect and the recipe instructions and baking time are also perfect. I'm not a huge fan of cloves alone, but I can't fault the recipe for that. I'd omit the cloves next time or substitute for something I like better. I used dried cherries, cut in half, for the cranberries. Lovely biscotti!