Holiday Biscotti
(adapted from Giada De Laurentiis, (but changed just slightly)
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped FRESHMAN TIP:( This means chopped, but to no particular size)
2/3 cup craisins
Preheat oven to 350.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour and baking powder into a medium bowl.
FRESHMAN TIP: Zesting (Is that a word?) Well it should be!! Because that is what we are doing here.
Wash your lemon, then pull the lemon along the zester, but don't go too deep into the skin. You don't want to use the white part of the lemon skin. Only the yellow. The white has a bitter flavor that will ruin your recipe.
This is what your teaspoon of grated lemon zest should look like. In the interest of always trying to use everything I buy, I usually will make something with the lemon juice within the next day or two. That way nothing gets wasted. If I can't seem to make it happen in that time frame, I at least squeeze the lemon to get the juice out, and I usually use it for tea or to flavor my water.
Beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
Add the flour mix and beat until just blended.
It should look like this:
Add your pistachios and craisins and mix in with a spoon.
Your dough will be rather thick. Place it on your baking sheet, and stretch and pat out the dough until it becomes a log measuring 13" long and 3" wide. It is important to measure the dough. Use a plastic ruler that can be easily washed. The ruler can also be used to square your sides, so your biscotti loaf is even .
Bake until it is light golden, about 35 minutes.
Remove your biscotti from the oven, and let it cool for 20 minutes. Then cut the biscotti into 1/2 " wide pieces. I like to use a serrated edge knife to cut with. I use it like a saw, and it seems to minimize any crumbling. The biscotti will crumble a little, but don't worry.
Place your sliced pieces back on a cookie sheet, with a side up. Put them back into the oven for 10 minutes.
Pull the biscotti out of the oven and flip the pieces over, so that the other side can be finished.
Let them bake for 5 minutes longer.
This is your finished product. They take a little while longer than most cookies, but they are worth it! These are great to dunk in tea, coffee, milk or even hot chocolate. Try them and let me know what you think!
With the holidays coming up they are a great cookie to send to family and friends far away.
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