Almond-Cherry Biscotti

Each week we will feature a recipe, which you can later find hidden in the blog. Enjoy!

Almond-Cherry Biscotti

Biscotti can sometimes be a hard item to make successfully, even-though it is one of the most simple baked goods to produce it has certain key steps that if missed can make your life a miserable journey of bad biscotti eating.
I have been trying different recipes and techniques over the years and think that finally found the one that makes sense for me.
Almonds are my favorite nuts and are always found one way or another in my baked goods, salads or just an afternoon snack.
This recipe is adapted from one of the very first baking books I bought, The Baker's Dozen Cookbook, page 204 Pistachio-Golden raising Biscotti. I use slivered almonds, dried cherries or cranberries chopped, instead of the pistachios and raisins, and orange zest as I love the lovely citrus fragrance it gives to every bite.

The recipe in the book ask to beat the butter and sugar, but in high altitude this kind of technique is always more challenging. Instead I melt the butter and mix it with the eggs and vanilla and then pour it over the sifted dried ingredients, which in this case include the sugar.
I use my hands to lightly knead the dough, and I mean lightly. One thing I found is that the less you mess around with the kneading the crispier and more tender the biscotti turned out, so be mindful to work the ingredients until you have a dough that is not sticky and can be easy to roll into a log and make sure to stop there.
Now to the baking, since we have a long log and want to make sure it cooks well inside before it turns to brown or burnt on the outside we need to use a much lower heat than what we are usually used to when making other cookies. Bake at 300 for about 1 hour, turning the pans a couple of times, or until the logs look golden brown and are hard to the touch. Let cool for about 5-8 minutes before you slice them.
I use a serrated knife which helps me cut through the crust with a little back and forward motion and here is where you stop and gather yourself to just push down and aim for a clean cut.

Almond-Cherry Biscotti
Adapted from The Baker's Dozen Cookbook

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 salt
1 1/4 c sugar
1 tsp orange zest (optional)
4 oz (1 stick) melted butter, cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
3/4 c slivered almonds
1/4 c chopped dried cherries or cranberries

Pre-heat the oven to 300
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, add the orange zest. Whisk the eggs, butter and extracts. Pour the egg mixture over the flour and blend with your hands, reaching from under to evenly distribute the ingredients. Add the almonds and cherries and continue to knead until the you can shape the dough in a long log.
Bake for about 1 hour or until golden brown and hard to the touch. Let cool 5-8 minutes and cut with a serrated knife, first using a sawing motion to cut the top crust and then force the knife down to get a clean cut and avoid to many falling crumbs. Cut them about 1/2 thick
Re-bake them for 10-15 or until golden brown.
These cookies will keep for up to 2 weeks if store in an airtight container.

By Paula Thomas