Cranberry-Almond Biscotti

By Foodiewife

My Italian friend shared her family recipe for this delicious biscotti. I prefer a biscotti that is a bit chewy in the middle and crunchy on the outside. I’ve tasted a lot of biscotti, and this recipe delivered the texture I wanted. The dough had the right balance of sweet and these are addicting, even without being dipped into chocolate.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1-stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds or pistachios
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 12 ounces dark chocolate (for dipping)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using stand mixer (or a hand-held mixer), beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to mix, then add the lemon and orange zest until blended.

Add about 1/3 of the flour, on low speed.

Add the nuts and cranberries and then add more of the dry ingredients, a little at a time.

Form the dough into a long, wide log on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes.

Note: Because I prefer a chewier texture on the inside, I under-baked mine by about 5 minutes. Cool only until you can touch it.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 3/4-inch thick slices.

Note: I found that cutting straight down, rather than sawing, made for less crumbs or broken slices.

Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet.

Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Note: I baked mine at 325°F and turned them over after 7 minutes. My biscotti turned the way I prefer them to be—lightly golden, lightly crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. If you prefer yours to be hard and crunchy, bake at 350°F.

Dip in chocolate:

Stir the chocolate in a bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water, until the chocolate melts.

To make tempered chocolate, chop about 2 cups of the chocolate into pieces (or chocolate chip Morsels) and place 3/4 of it in a small glass bowl in a microwave for 20 seconds exactly.

Stir the chocolate and continue to microwave for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth and shiny.

Add the remaining 1/4 of the chocolate and stir until smooth. The chocolate should register 87 to 89°F on a candy thermometer. (per Ina Garten).

Submerge half of the biscotti (rather than one end, so you can get chocolate in each bite) into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate.

Place the biscotti on the baking sheet (chocolate side up) for the chocolate to set.

Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes. Or, in our case, eat them immediately and enjoy!

Note: Instead of zest, I used 1/2 teaspoon of Flor Di Sicilia, a few drops of pure orange oil (not extract) and lemon oil, purchased online at King Arthur Flour. Loved it!