Spiced Cranberry Nut Biscotti
These spiced cranberry nut biscotti, studded with crunchy almonds and pepitas make a great light breakfast, afternoon snack, or any time snack, really. Pair a steaming hot cup of coffee with a couple homemade crunchy biscotti cookies, lightly flavored with ginger and coriander and you’ll forget you’re in your own kitchen instead of a trendy coffee shop.
Ingredients
dry ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground mahleb (optional, sub ¼ tsp almond extract)
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup pepita seeds
wet ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Mix the Biscotti Dough
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ (180℃ or gas mark 4).
- Line a half-sheet pan or large cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. You can use butter or baking spray if you don't have those to keep your cookies from sticking during the first bake.
- In a medium to large bowl, add your flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking powder (sift the baking powder through a wire strainer to make sure there are no lumps). Mix with a whisk or spoon until the ingredients are well combined.
- Add the dried cranberries, almonds, and pepitas to the rest of the dry ingredients and mix again.
- Break the eggs into a small bowl or large glass measuring cup, and stir them with a fork or whisk along with the vanilla (and almond extract, if you're using it) and beat until the whites and yolks are combined. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Continue to fold and mix this together with a sturdy silicone spatula, a bowl scraper, or your hands, until it makes a stiff but sticky dough. It will be crumbly at first, then feel too wet. This is normal!
Shape and Bake the Cookies
- Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a flat oblong rectangle on the baking pan. Each should be about 4-5" wide and 10-12" long, and from ½"-1" thick... the shape of your loaf will determine the length and thickness of your biscotti, but they will rise and spread a bit when they bake.
- Bake the loaves for 15-20 minutes. They should be firm but not completely dry, and just starting to color.
- Remove from the oven, and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, let cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes. If you are making a double batch or multiple kinds of biscotti, you can bake the second batch while the first is cooling.
- Slice the cookies across the short length into ½"-1" thick biscotti. Thicker biscotti will take longer to bake but you can make them how you like them- just adjust the baking time as needed to dry them out completely.
- Lay the slices flat on your cookie sheets and bake them again for another 10-15 minutes or until they are dry and crunchy. They will get crunchier as they cool, but make sure they're completely dry. You can leave them in the oven with the door cracked to cool to make sure (just check to make sure they aren't still baking).
- Store in an airtight container once they are fully cooled. If properly stored, these last for a month or more.
Notes
If they are not completely dry and crunchy once they cool after the second baking, you can bake them again. Removing all the moisture is key to the long shelf life of these cookies!
If you made thicker slices, you may need to bake them longer to get them fully dry in the second bake. Lower the oven temperature if they begin to brown before drying out.
Nutrition
Calories: 112kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.004gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 94mgPotassium: 64mgFiber: 1gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 34IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 1mg
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