I love to make biscotti, and I don’t do it nearly enough.
Honestly, they are one of the easiest things to bake and they always make a great last minute gift when we are headed to a friend’s house. Everyone is always so impressed by homemade biscotti (and I don’t always feel the need to fill them in on how easy they are)… They have that sophisticated coffee shop look.
One of my favorite things about making biscotti is that they work well with lots of different flavors. Using my go to recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, I can incorporate whatever I have on hand. Sure, plain biscotti are great, but I enjoy mixing in nuts, fruit, chocolate, or extracts. I always love to bake with pecans and cranberries, so I decided to go with those flavors last weekend when I was baking biscotti for a friend. I added just a bit of butter rum flavoring, too, to give the biscotti an extra special flavor.
I just loved these biscotti, and I plan on making them again soon. They were great on their own, but I found them especially great dipped in a cup of coffee. I especially loved the special touch that the butter rum flavor added. Wrapped in a clear cellophane bag and tied with some ribbon, they made a great gift, too!
Cranberry Pecan Biscotti
(Makes about 15 biscotti, adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon butter rum flavor
(I got mine from King Arthur Flour) - 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick liner (or parchment paper) and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, vanilla, and butter rum flavor. Continue to mix until the mixture is light in color and falls back into the bowl in ribbons.
Stir in the flour, stirring just until it’s incorporated. Fold in the pecans and cranberries.
Shape the dough into a long rectangle shaped loaf (approximately 1 inch thick) on the prepared baking sheet, smoothing the top with wet hands. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven. Let the loaf cool for about 15 minutes. Then, spritz the top of the loaf with water and let it rest for an additional 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
Using a sharp knife, slice the loaf on a diagonal making about 3/4-inch thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, standing upright. Bake for an additional 25 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight container or individually wrapping as gifts. The biscotti will keep for up to two weeks.
Please Note – The links to the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion provided in this post are Amazon affiliate links.
You’re right, there is something “fancy” about biscotti, maybe it’s just the name! These look great and I love how whatever you have in the kitchen can be tossed in to the recipe.
I love Biscotti! I am surely not a baker but his sounds really easy. Cranberries are my fav! Will try these with my daughter :)
I love to make biscotti too, especially in the winter when I’ve forgotten to take the butter out of the fridge to soften up. Biscotti doesn’t need butter, so it’s perfect! Thanks for sharing this! I have some pecans in the freezer and dried red plums that I can sub for cranberries.
Can you send some here, ASAP?! They look fab! I love making biscotti for the same reasons as you- an elegant, yet simple way, to give a gift of love from your kitchen ;)
I’m with you when it comes to brightening up biscotti with whatever I have on hand. Loved the cranberry-pecan combo in these!
I love to bake biscotti for my father-in-law – it’s one of the first things I ever baked for him and he always enjoys them. I should make him a batch again soon, maybe using this recipe! They look wonderful :)
Beautiful Biscotti Jen, love the combination of fruit and nut you chose.
Butter rum sounds yummy, these would be a great for the holidays! I know, I’m getting a little ahead of the seasons but buttery rum flavors reminds me of that.
Update! Just made these and they are DELICIOUS! I didn’t have butter rum flavoring so I subbed orange zest and I was very happy!
Quick question: what’s the purpose of spritzing the surface of the cookies with water before slicing? I left out this step, but still got delicious, yummy results!
Thanks for my new go-to recipe for biscotti, Jen! :)
So glad you liked them!
Spritzing the cookies with water before slicing is a trick I learned from the King Arthur Flour cookbook… It just helps to keep them from crumbling and cracking when you slice them.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! I used 1 cup regular flour + 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour very successfully! I loved the final texture. Thought I’d tell you before a million people asked you if you substitute whole wheat? ;)
The whole wheat pastry flour sounds great! Usually I will substitute some whole wheat when I bake, but I’m glad to know that you tried it and it worked well. Thanks :)
The biscotti looks wonderful.
I love biscotti! I’m digging the cranberry pecan combo too. Yum :)
I too am a huge fan of Italian cookies. Those biscotti look simply gorgeous.
Love the flavor combination. Your biscotti looks prefect. You are right, they are so easy to make and so highly adaptable.
A fabulous flavour combination!
Can I tell you that I made another batch of biscotti using a recipe from a very famous (busty) Italian chef on food network? And they didn’t hold a candle to yours.
Food bloggers > food network chefs.
Good recipe.
Your cookies are very similar to traditional italian cookies from Tuscany called “Cantucci”.
They are made with almonds:
http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-recipes/step-step-recipes/cantucci-biscuits.aspx
Usually we eat them as an accompaniment to fine “passito” wines, like “Vino Santo”.