his
crisp and crunchy biscotti is dressed for the holidays with bright red dried
cranberries and lovely green pistachios.
These are lower in fat than most cookies as
they do not contain butter which makes them a nice alternative to all
the other rich baked goods during the Christmas season.
If you have lots of baking to do you will
be happy to hear that biscotti have a long shelf life so these can be
made well ahead of time and they are so good you may even want to
give them as gifts (perfect for the coffee lover).
Now, we have used dried
cranberries instead of fresh in this recipe. Dried cranberries are
just cranberries that have most of their moisture removed (up to 80%)
through drying, either by machine or by the sun. The
advantage of drying any fruit is to prolong its storage but it has the
added benefit of concentrating the fruit's sweetness and flavor.
The texture of the fruit becomes all soft and chewy which makes it ideal
for both eating out-of-hand and in baking. Dried cranberries can
be found in most grocery stores as well as health food stores.
Preheat oven
to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center
of the oven. Line a baking
sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In
the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs
on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 5 minutes). (When you
slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow
ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl,
whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and
beat until combined. Fold in the chopped pistachios and cranberries.
Transfer
the dough to your parchment lined baking sheet and form into a log, about 12
inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide. You may have to dampen
your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Bake for
25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack
for about 10 minutes.
Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into 3/4 inch (2 cm) slices, on the diagonal. Place the
biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake
for another
10
minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an
airtight container.
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his
crisp and crunchy biscotti is dressed for the holidays with bright red dried
cranberries and lovely green pistachios. 
