Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Italian biscotti studded with dried cranberries and pistachios, featuring a crisp texture and festive holiday colors.
Ingredients
all-purpose flour
3 cups
baking powder
2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon
salt
1/4 teaspoon
unsalted butter (softened)
8 tablespoons (1 stick)
granulated sugar
1 cup
light brown sugar
1/2 cup
large eggs
2
pure vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons
orange zest (finely grated, from 1 orange)
1 tablespoon
shelled unsalted pistachios
1¼ cups
dried cranberries
1 cup
Instructions
1
Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie or baking sheet with parchment paper.
2
Mix dry ingredients
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
3
Mix wet ingredients
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat until fully blended. Beat in the eggs, then the vanilla and orange zest.
4
Combine dough
With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until the dough starts to clump together. Mix in the pistachios and cranberries. Using your hands or a rubber spatula, gather the dough into a ball, then divide it in half.
5
Shape loaves
With lightly floured hands, place each half of the dough lengthwise on one side of the prepared sheet. Shape the dough into rectangular loaves about 13 inches long and 2½ inches wide. Make sure the loaves are at least 3 inches apart on the sheet.
6
First bake
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the sheet from front to back about halfway through baking, or until the loaves are nicely golden and the tops feel mostly firm when gently pressed. Transfer the sheet to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
7
Slice loaves
Peel the loaves off the parchment paper and transfer them, one at a time, to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife in a long sawing motion, cut the loaves on a slight diagonal into ¾-inch-thick slices.
8
Second bake
Discard the parchment and place the biscotti, cut side down, on the sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the biscotti over to the other cut side and bake for about 10 minutes longer or until lightly toasted. Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool.
