Cherry-Pistachio Biscotti
Cherry-Pistachio Biscotti
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| Yield: | 3 dozen 3" to 4 1/2" biscotti |
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pistachio flavor or cherry flavor, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
- 1 cup sweetened tart cherries*
- coarse white sparkling sugar for sprinkling on top, optional
- *For a lower-cost alternative, substitute sweetened dried cranberries
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet.
2) In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, flavor, vanilla, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3) Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled.
4) At low speed of your mixer, add the flour, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.
5) Stir in the pistachios and cherries.
6) Divide the dough in half, and plop both halves onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between them.
7) Shape each half into a long rectangle about 10 1/2" x 2" wide x 3/4" tall; remember, you need to leave space for expansion between the pieces of dough.
8) Straighten the rectangles, and smooth their tops and sides; a wet spatula or wet bowl scraper works well here.
8) Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the two pieces of dough, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti without crumbling easier.
9) Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
10) Wait 5 minutes, then use a sharp chef's or serrated knife to cut the biscotti crosswise into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Or cut the biscotti on the diagonal, for fewer, longer biscotti. As you're slicing, be sure to cut straight up and down, perpendicular to the pan; if you cut unevenly, biscotti may be thicker at the top than the bottom, and they'll topple over during their second bake.
11) If you've used parchment on your baking sheet, remove it; save it for another day. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet, on edge; they can be very close together.
12) Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 35 to 40 minutes, until they feel very dry and are beginning to turn golden. They may still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they'll continue to dry out as they cool. You'll want to start checking the biscotti around the 30-minute mark; the ones on the ends of the pan, or any smaller biscotti, may be ready to come out of the oven earlier than the larger/middle-of-the-pan biscotti.
13) Remove the finished biscotti from the oven, and cool them right on the pan.
Yield: 3 dozen biscotti.
Reviews
12/21/2011- I have never tried-made this type of cookie before BUT I am happy-glad that I did. easy-simple to make & looks pretty with color & I used the sticky-moist cherries that you would use for a fruitcake & worked out just fine. stayed nice in color with the nut color. I also stored in a tin-can. I felt pazell,s I store in a tin & these also would keep-long & stay crisp in tin.
- 12/08/2011
08/01/2011- My cookies did not look like the picture here. Second baking for 30 minutes at 325 cooked the cherries to a dark black, an almost burned taste. I enjoyed the delicate crunchy texture.
- 03/25/2011
- I have made several different types of biscotti and this is the best, according to my husband and friends. The combination of the tartness of the cherries and the saltiness of the pistachios make a good combination. At first, I thought I shouldn't use salted nuts, but changed my mind after I tasted them. Good combination. However, I found that I didn't need them to remain in the oven the second time around longer than 20 - 25 min. They became too dark if I left them in for the required time. Try this, you'll like it!
- 03/18/2011
- This is a keeper with some minor adjustments so they don't get too brown. To get the same crunch the cooking temp needs to be reduced to 325 and keep it in the oven for 35mins and also I will reduce the second bake to 275 till crisp. I did add an additional cup of finely ground nuts and reduced the flour by 2/3 cup. This gave it even more flavor and a great crunch.
HAPPY BAKING!
I'm really glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us. ~Amy
- 03/15/2011
- Haven't made it yet but definitely will. Looks and sounds lovely. One thing though...it mentions the sliced biscotti toppling over during the second bake, I lay mine down on their side after slicing, bake 1/2 the time, flip them all over and finish baking.
- 03/15/2011
- essentially the same as the american vanilla biscotti recipe w the add-ins--i had used that recipe and added the pistachios and cranberries before i saw this one. i imagine would be very tasty w the cherries too. did not add the extract as it didn't occur to me/didn't have it, just used the 2 tsp of vanilla, the higher end suggested in the other recipe. dipped the finished biscotti in melted merckens bittersweet--wonderful. even my husband not a huge biscotti fan really enjoyed these. delightful look, at least as good if not better than the n_nni's. little bit time consuming w the double-baking but not difficult and a nice texture, crunchy but not too hard.
