Cranberry Walnut White Chocolate Biscotti
Last week I got a sudden craving for biscotti. This was weird because the first and the last time I ate or made biscotti was in 1998 or 1999 and I didn’t like it (way too much chocolate). I searched the internet and cobbled together this recipe from some ingredients and directions that I found on allrecipes.com and seriouseats.com. Like most cookies it goes well with coffee or tea but I had mine with hot chocolate.
Wet Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup raw agave nectar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Optional
1 cup Craisins (or dried cranberries)
1 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
Whip the agave nectar and butter together until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until well incorporated. Combine the dry ingredients and slowly add them to the wet ingredients a half cup or so at a time. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. At this point, the dough may appear a bit dry but this shouldn’t be a problem. Mix in the the optional ingredients and make sure that they are well distributed through the dough so each cookie has a bit of everything.
Split the dough into two equal parts and place on the pan. Moisten your hands with a bit of water and shape the dough into two somewhat flattened logs about 12 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and carefully place the logs on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven to 300 degrees while the cookies are cooling.
Cut the logs diagonally to create 1/2 to 1 inch slices. Place the cut pieces standing on a rack and leave a bit of space around each cookie. Put the rack on a pan or cookie sheet and place it back in the oven. Bake the biscotti for a second time for about 5 to 10 minutes until they’ve browned and firmed up a bit more. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. The biscotti will become firmer as they cool. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
*Notes*
You can use sugar instead of agave nectar but might need to adjust the amount. Also, the combination of Craisins and chocolate chunks/chips adds quite a bit of sugar so be sure to adjust the recipe accordingly if you add more sugar/agave, use unsweetened or low sugar dried cranberries, or use less/no Craisins and chocolate chunks/chips.