Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

What is on your agenda for the Saturday before Christmas?? Right now I am in my favorite spot for Saturday and Sunday mornings...parked on the couch, right in front of the Today Show. The only thing I need is my coffee and it's brewing right now. I have a couple of things planned for today, but nothing huge. We are going to go to the gym, get some more candles from Bath & Body works (they are on sale 2 for $20!) and make a cheesecake. Tonight we have a Christmas/Holiday party in the city, hopefully it doesn't get snowed out by the 12 inches of snow we are supposed to get.


I am making a cheesecake for dinner tomorrow. We are having Christmas dinner with my grandma and aunt, since Danny and I will be in Lancaster, PA with his family for Christmas this year.  It is my mom's cheesecake recipe, with sour cream, ricotta, cream cheese, etc. It's the only kind of cheesecake that I like. SO GOOD. I'll post the recipe after I make it. 


Today I'm posting another dessert recipe because that's all I have done lately is bake  because this recipe is so good! Yesterday I brought in a huge tray of cookies to my work and they were gone in a little over an hour. The rainbow cookies were the biggest hit and then the biscotti. I made two types of biscotti, chocolate walnut and pistachio cranberry.  I will be posting both, but for today just the pistachio cranberry. Did I mention that both biscotti recipes are from Giada DeLaurentilis? I love her.

The most time consuming part of this treat is de-shelling the pistachios. After you have de-shelled enough of them throw them into the food processor and chop them up into chunky pieces.

This batter is definitely for the holidays with the red cranberries and green pistachios. How pretty??

Shape the dough into a long log on a non stick pan.

After it comes out of the oven slice it into long thin pieces. I cut them at an angle.

Arrange them on a baking sheet and put them back into the oven to let them toast.

This is what they look like when they are done. SO good. You can also dip these into chocolate if you want, but I skipped this step because I loved how they tasted just like this.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries

• Directions

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  
  Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
  
  Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
  
  Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely. These can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days and frozen for up to 3 weeks.
  

Original Recipe from Food Network.com

These are what I gave out to some people just to share my treats. 


These are one of my favorite desserts I have made so far. Give it a try!


Have a great Saturday, I hope you get all of your shopping done!!