Tuesday 7 October 2014

Cranberry Hazelnuts Biscotti

Do you like Biscotti?  I do.
Biscotti, also known as cantuccini (coffee bread), are twice‑baked cookies originating in the Italian city of Prato. They are long, thick, brittle cookies designed to be dipped in coffee, cocoa, or wine.

Glad to also know that the traditional biscotti do not contain butter and oil.  As I do not have pistachio nuts (cos could hardly find shelled unsalted pistachio in supermarkets), hence, substituted with hazelnuts and made these Cranberry Hazelnuts Biscotti !



Recipe adapted from : Joy of Baking, with slight changes made in blue.

Cranberry Hazelnuts Biscotti
Ingredients:
135 gram granulated white sugar (I reduced to 90 gram caster sugar)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
230 grams all-purpose flour
60 grams *hazelnuts coarsely chopped
75 grams dried cranberries or cherries

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
*toast hazelnuts: spread on a baking sheet and bake @ 177 °C for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Some prepared ingredients
2) In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until thick, pale, and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). At this point beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the chopped hazelnuts and cranberries.

3) Transfer the dough to a well floured counter and roll into a log shape, about 12 inches (30 cm) long and 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) wide. You may have to flour your hands to form the log as the dough is quite sticky. Place the log on the baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

I roughly divided into 2 logs instead of 1

4) Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Transfer the log to a cutting board and cut into about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) slices, on the diagonal. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Can be stored in an airtight container for several weeks.

Makes about 20 - 24 biscotti.
(On my next attempt, I shall slice them slightly thinner to double the quantity)

Cooling on rack

I love the nice crisp and crunchy texture ... makes them perfect for dunking in my coffee and munch munch ... very addictive !
Simply enjoy the dipping and munching ... on a lazy sunny weekend ^-^!

Happy baking and have a nice day :D

I'm submitting this post to "My Treasured Recipes #3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)" hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

11 comments:

  1. Hi Karen! Oh dear, I have never eaten biscotti before! They sound like biscuits (?) and I am sure that I would enjoy them :)

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    1. Hi Phong Hong, some cafe selling in small packs and I find it rather expensive for few thinly crispy slices. But really nice to munch ^-^!

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  2. I love biscotti and it has been so so so long I have not bake biscotti already. I wish I can have some from you Karen. Anymore left in your cookie jar?

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    1. Oh....you wanna check out my previous almond biscotti that I have slice it sssooooo thinly! But......it was not easy task but having it thinly slice make it so crunchy and taste nice. Here... if you have time, check it out ok... http://melspantrykitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/almond-biscotti.html

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    2. Sure, thanks Mel. Yes my next biscotti is almond biscotti yeah !

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    3. Yes still left a few ... pls help yourself ^-^!

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  3. Hi Karen
    I like! But I have never made before. Will try this out.

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    1. Hi Amy, it's my 1st attempt on Biscotti and I'm happy with it. But I'll slice it thinner in my next bake.

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  4. I baked almond biscotti once. Crunchy! Great for dunking in coffee.

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    1. Hi Grace, yes agree ... dunking in coffee is so nice and addictive !

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  5. I love biscotti, it's definitely gonna be very delicious with cranberries and nuts. And with a recipe from Joy of Baking, you can never go wrong. Thanks for sharing =)

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Sharing some of my favourite recipes, some new baking/cooking "adventures". Please feel free to post your comments for my improvement. Would be great to connect with you and learn some of your recipes too. Thanks for 'dropping by'.