Cranberry Biscotti with Pistachios

With red and green these Cranberry Biscotti with Pistachios make a great Christmas cookie. You can use other nuts instead of pistachios with success; it just won’t taste the same.

Using oil (vs. butter or margarine) makes for a cookie soft enough that they can be eaten without being dipped in a drink.

This must be pretty traditional as Italian friends have told me this taste "just the way biscotti are supposed to taste”.  Feel free to make adjustments to the nuts, berries and extracts to suit your taste.  You might try reducing pistachios by 1/2 cup and increased the cranberries by 1/2 cup. 

 DON'T use butter or margarine. Find a light good quality olive oil.  If you can’t find that or you want to; it's totally FINE to substitute a vegetable oil like canola --they are basically comparable (light olive oil is olive oil but stripped of its flavor to cater to more "American" taste--you don't find light olive oil in Italy. Or..yet another option would be half canola and half regular olive oil for a lighter olive oil taste.

Tips:

• If your pistachios are salted, omit the 1/4 teaspoon salt from the recipe.
• If you have trouble with crumbling while cutting let the logs cool more before slicing them

Cranberry Biscotti with Pistachios Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup light olive oil
•  3/4 cup white sugar
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•  1/2 teaspoon almond extract
•  2 eggs
•  2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
•  1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 cup dried cranberries
•  1 1/2 cups pistachio nuts

Directions:

1.  
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat and set aside.
3. Place one oven rack in the center of oven and preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
4. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, and then beat in the eggs.
5. In another bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder
6. Gradually stir the flour mixture into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand, mix until well distributed.  Turn out on to floured surface and knead briefly just until dough comes together.
7. Divide dough in half and shape into two logs (12x2 inches) on a prepared baking sheet. Dough may be sticky so wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
8. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until logs are light brown.
9. Remove from oven, and place on wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
10. Place logs on cutting board and cut on diagonal, with serrated knife, into 3/4 inch thick slices.
11. Lay on sides on baking sheet. Bake approximately 10 to 12 minutes, turning over half way through the bake.
12. Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool.
13. Cool completely and store in an airtight container to maintain freshness

Return from Cranberry Biscotti with Pistachios to:

• Nut and Fruit Biscotti Recipe Collection
• Savory Biscotti Recipe Collection
• Biscotti Baking Tips