Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
This crunchy biscuit is a perfect addition to a cookie platter, or with your morning coffee. Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti bursts with flavor and festive colors and is drizzled with an orange glaze to finish!
Ingredients
Biscotti
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- zest of one orange, 1 tsp reserved for glaze
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup white cornmeal
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (if using unsalted nuts, add another pinch of salt)
- 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2-1 tsp water
- reserved orange zest, finely chopped if necessary
Instructions
Biscotti
- Preheat to 350°. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream together softened butter and sugar. Add in most of the orange zest (reserving 1 tsp for glaze), salt, and almond extract. Then beat in eggs, one at a time.
- Slowly beat in baking powder, flour, and cornmeal, mixing until almost combined (leave some flour unmixed to avoid a tough dough). Stir in pistachios and cranberries until evenly mixed.
- Lightly flour hands to shape the dough into a 14" by 4" rectangle*. Dough will be sticky, but do not add extra flour.
- Bake the rectangle for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm on top and edges. Cool for 30 minutes.
- After cooling, cut into 3/4" slices and place cut-side down on the same baking sheet**. Turn down oven to 325° and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and dry. (This depends on your preference for crunchy/slightly softer biscotti. I prefer a crunch on the ends and a softer middle, so I baked mine for less time overall.)
- Cool completely on a wire rack while preparing the glaze.
Glaze
- In a small bowl mix together powdered sugar and orange zest. Add 1/2 tsp of water and whisk vigorously until combined. Little by little, add in more water, whisking every time until you reach desired consistency. - When you lift the whisk, a steady stream should run off the whisk. If it runs off too quickly and too thinly, the glaze will run off the biscotti and not set firm. Too thick and it will be harder to evenly drizzle over the biscotti.
- In long strokes, drizzle the glaze back and forth over your biscotti in irregular lines. Let set until firm, 30-60 minutes. Sprinkle with more chopped pistachios if desired.
Notes
*The shape and size of your rectangle depend entirely on your size preference of biscotti. My rectangle was about 14" long and 5" wide when I shaped it. Once baked, it spread slightly in the oven so that the overall width was 6" in the middle. If you like shorter biscotti, simply aim for 3-4" in width to account for spreading. Your length will be slightly longer (and you'll get more pieces!).
**If for some reason it seems too wet to cut, bake it 5-10 minutes longer before you slice it. If you follow this instruction, your second bake time will most likely be reduced, depending always on your own preferences!