Biscotti....My Favorite Christmas Cookies.......

 Sunny Day for Christmas

All my life, I have made Christmas cookies. Nevertheless, since I arrived to Canada and I discovered this fantastic sweet treat, Biscotti are now part of my regular Christmas cookies. "Biscotti" is the plural of "biscotto", which comes from the Latin biscoctus that means "twice baked" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscotti).

Although I make different types of biscotti throughout the year, there are three types of biscotti that I make for Christmas: Cranberry and Pistachio (green and red color), Candied Orange Peel and Almond, Dry Apricots and Almonds.

With this recipe, I participate in the collection of Christmas recipes from the fantastic blog of Giulia .....Grazie Giulia!!

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti

 

Candied Orange Peel and Almond Biscotti

 

 

 Dry Apricot and Almond Biscotti

 

 Holiday Biscotti

1/4 cup plus 1 spoon of butter (softened)
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla esence
1 /2 teaspoon of almond esence
2 teaspoon of anise seed
1 teaspoon of fennel seed
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (more or less depending on the final texture)
Pinch of Salt
1 beaten egg


For the Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti:
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pistachios (shelled)

For the Candied Orange Peel and Almond Biscotti
1 cup candied orange peel (chopped). I make my own candied orange peel.

1 cup almonds (peeled and sliced)

For the Dry Apricots and Almonds Biscotti
1 cup dry apricots (chopped)

1 cup almonds (peeled and sliced)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat until combined and creamy. Beat in the tree eggs, vanilla, almond extract, anise seeds, and fennel seeds. Incorporate the dry fruit an nuts selected (combination of Cranberry and Pistachio, Candied Orange Peel and Almond, or Dry Apricots and Almonds). Beat in 2 cups (or more) of all-purpose flour, until you have a dough that is soft, but not sticky to your hands (see the pictures below) . Cover and refrigerate for two hours.

 

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Take the dough out from the refrigerator, and divide it in half. Make two logs of about 30 cms long and 2.4  cms in thick. Place on a oven tray (either slightly greased or with parchment paper), and brush it with the beaten egg. Bake it for 25-30 minutes, or until light brown.

 

 

When the loaves are cool, cut the loaf in slices (about 1 cm width), lay slices in a oven tray, and bake them again for 5 minutes. Turn slices over, and bake them for another 5 minutes. You can adjust the time to make the biscotti dry and crisp. It makes about 40 biscotti the dough portion.

 

ENJOY!!