Cranberry and pistachio biscotti
17 May 2012 | 53 comments
Posted in cookie/ cracker, Featured Articles, Italian, others, Vegetarian, Western
Posted in cookie/ cracker, Featured Articles, Italian, others, Vegetarian, Western
RECIPE FOR CRANBERRY AND PISTACHIO BISCOTTI
Make: 40
Ingredients:
150g plain flour (all purpose flour)
½ tsp baking powder
1 large egg (about 70g) – at room temperature
70g castor sugar
Pinch of salt
60g pistachios
50g dried cranberries
⅛ tsp vanilla extract, more or less (optional)
Grated orange zest (from 1 medium orange)Methods:
- Rehydrate cranberries – put in a plastic bag, pour water inside and immediately pour it out retaining some. Leave at room temperature for at least 2-3 hours or overnight. Before using, remove cranberries from the bag and pat dry with kitchen towel.
- Rinse pistachios lightly. Pat dry with kitchen towel. (This step is optional)
- Roast pistachios in a preheated oven for 2-3 minutes at 160°C. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder and sieve. Add in orange zest and mix well. Use finger tips to break the lumps if any.
- In another bowl, beat the egg lightly with a hand whisk or electrical mixer. Then add in sugar and salt. Beat until the mixture is fluffy and pale.
- Add in vanilla extract (if used) and mix.
- Add in flour and baking powder (from step 4). Use a plastic scraper to mix all the ingredients until well combined. You can use technique such as cut, press and scrape to mix.
- Then add in the pistachios and cranberries. Mix until well combined and form a dough. At this stage, the dough is quite sticky. So, dust your hands and counter top with more flours before proceeding to the next step.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal portions, roll into log shapes (20cm length x 5cm width x 2cm thickness) and then flatten slightly. (refer to note 4)
- Place the logs on a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper. Transfer the tray to oven, place at the lower rack and bake at 160°C for 30 minutes or until well risen and firm. If your logs show uneven colour, rotate them at 180 degree towards the last 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
- When the logs are cooled, use serrated knife to cut it diagonally into thin slices (0.8cm thickness or lesser). Arrange slices on the lined baking tray, transfer to oven, place at the lowest rack and bake for a further 150°c for 12 minutes (6 minutes for each side) or until slightly golden brown.
- Cool on rack and keep in an air-tight container for several weeks.
Note:
- Dried cranberries can substituted with dried cherries.
- You can substitute pistachios with other nuts (such almonds) or dried cranberries.
- After keeping the biscotti for some time, they may turn soft. To crisp them, bake in a preheated oven at 150°c for 5-10 minutes.
- Watch THIS VIDEO on how to rough the dough.
Thanks for sharing this. I will definitely give it a try! :))
Dee: Looking forward to your feedback. 😉
these would be so great as christmas gifts because of the red and greens! love how nicely and neatly cut these are!
Janine: Yes, I totally agree. But they are too good to keep until Christmas. 🙂
These biscotti look super!
Angie: Thanks!! 😉
looks better than Dome’s 😉
Noobcook: Haha! Thanks for your sweet words! 😉
I’m so going to make this! Loved the green and red combi 😀 Pistachios? I’m sold 🙂
Ling: Hurry! Grab your pistachios and cranberries now. You’ll never regret. 😉
Yummy! I love this combination!
LCOM: Thanks!! Glad you like it! 😉
OMG… I love everything about these pictures. Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful…words can’t express, really!!! I want to pin but Pinterest is not working. Absolutely look delicious and I only wish that I don’t have fear of baking and courage to try making these… Fantastic job on this post!
Nami: Thanks so much with your super nice words. I’m so flattered! 😉
Damn attractive and irresistible biscottis,they came out super beautiful.
Priya: Thanks for your nice compliment! 😉
Lovely colours! I’ve always been too afraid to try to make biscotti – looks complicated. But I’m encouraged by your post! There’s hope for me yet.
Wokandspoon: I can fully understand your situation. That’s why I take so long to try it out. Do give it a try. 😉
Biscotti are so much fun to make and even more fun to eat! This is such a classic and delicious flavor combo!
Joanne: Well said! Thanks! 😉
I loves coffee and biscotti. Beautiful pictures!
Evelyn: Thanks!! That’s also my hubby and I enjoy biscotti. 🙂
Love biscotti, never made it myself. Pictures are stunning!
Lee Mei (MCH): Thanks so much for your compliment! 😉
My 1st attempt is cooking in the oven right now(2nd baking). The slicing of the log was quite challenging. Broke a few slices as a result, but those baby baking in the oven look really good… Thanks for sharing!
Lynn: It’s my pleasure to share! 😉
Just flipped the biscotti and regretting cutting them too thick…(my husband was telling me to cut them thicker since they were so fragile). They looked not dried enough with the stated time. So for the flipped side, I decided to bake them them 3 mins longer… Hopefully they turn out good. Fingers crossed
Lynn: You must wait for the cooked biscotti to cool down first before slicing them. I had baked them a few times lately and managed to cut them thinly. I guess practice makes perfect!
Thanks for the encouragement… by the way, are the pistachios supposed to be cooked or raw? For some reason, the after results of the pistachios in the sliced biscotti looked rather “tanned”, guess it is over cooked. Also, your biscotti looked rather fine and smooth on the surface, but mine looked rather rough. Are biscotti supposed to be crispy? Mine were rather soft…
Lynn: You need to lightly roast any nuts you use (including pistachios) before making the biscotti. Don’t worry, I also have tanned pistachios in my biscotti. I can’t comment on the surface unless you can send me a photo. Yes, the biscotti should be crispy. If yours are soft, just put them into the oven and bake them again at 150 degree for another 3-5 minutes. The baking time depends on the thickness of your sliced biscotti. 🙂
Thanks forth advice:>
Lynn: You are always welcome! 😉
May I know how to prepare the orange zest?
Soh: You can use a grater to do the job. Grate the outer layer of the skin. Avoid grating the white part. 😉
Thanks. Will try doing the biscotti later. Looking forward!
I tried twice and couldn’t get the golden brown colour (despite lengthening baking time) and the crispiness. Would you know what went wrong? I’m using a microwave oven function. Could this be a cause?
I wish to try out the salmon potato and almond crisps which also involve baking subsequently.
Thanks for advice.
Soh: I’m not sure too. I think as long as it is the oven function, there shouldn’t be any problem. Is it the first time you use this microwave oven? Maybe you can cut the biscotti thinner. Hope it helps! 🙂
Soh: Great! Looking forward for your feedback! 😉
Hi GoodFood 4tots, I really enjoy reading reading your blog. Awesome!!
Juliet: Thank you for your lovely comment! 🙂
I followed the recipe and they came out great, except for the color of the pistachios. Yours look so green, mine are all light brown.
I was not happy about the quality of the pistachios that I bought (Trader Joe’s) but that is all they had and I was anxious to try the recipe. Where do you get yours from? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Nikki: Thank you for sharing your feedback! I bought mine from Publika, a local supermarket in Kuala Lumpur. Maybe you can check it out from any local baking supply stores. 🙂
Tried but the dough was 2 sticky dough to handle. Coated hand with flour but the stickiness deterred it from rolling nor moulding into log. Did I miss out anything?
Liv: Yes, it is a bit sticky. Don’t knead the dough too much. Roll it lightly. Did you flour the working surface as well? Another trick is to wrap the dough in clip wrap and chill for about 1 hour. 🙂
Hello!
can I use baking soda in place of baking powder?
Thanks
Abby Laks: Sorry, I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it before. I would suggest you to follow the recipe closely if you want to yield the best results. 🙂
[…] original recipe came from Food 4 Tots. First of all, the combinations are just brilliant. First, you have the colorful dried cranberry, […]
hi.. Just wanted to check if I wanna bake an eggless version of these amazing biscotti’s what can I replace the egg with? Thanks
Divya: Sorry, I have tried an eggless version biscotti. Maybe you can search via google. 🙂
It looks delicious? but Can I use brown flour instead of all purpose flour?
Thans
Elhendy: Sorry, I haven’t tried brown flour before. 🙂
Would u have an eggless version to share? Second: I tried this and it seems dough is too wet. Can I increase the flour?
Ping: I’m sorry that I don’t have an eggless version for sharing. There is no need to increase the flour. Things you need to take note are: do not mix or knead the dough too much. Sprinkle some flour on the counter top before you transfer the dough over; then sprinkle some flour on the dough and start shaping. Again, roll and shape your dough as light and as quickly as possible. Remember to have your hands dust with flour too. From time to time, you can still sprinkle some flour if needed. Hope it helps! Happy New Year! 🙂