Cranberry Walnut Biscotti

Since both of us are coffee lovers and biscotti is definitely the food to go with a good cup of coffee, I have decided to try baking biscotti today despite it is not our baking day. I just can't resist the temptation to try something new. I started my online search for biscotti recipe and decided to go for the type of biscotti which require the ingredients that I already have on hand. In case some of you may not know what biscotti are, let me give you a brief description here:

Biscotti are traditional Italian cookies that are very crunchy and ideal for dunking into coffee or wine. In another word, think of them as adults' teething biscuits.

Today, we have decided to bake cranberry walnut biscotti despite the norm is pistachio cranberry biscotti. Anyhow, it was really simple to make biscotti and it took us less than half an hour. We will definitely explore various types of biscotti in the near future.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 eggs
• 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup walnuts/pecans/almonds/pistachios
• 1 orange rind
  

Steps:

1. First, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Stir in the vanilla, almond extracts and orange rind.
3. Next, beat in the eggs.
   
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder.
5. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
   
6. Mix in cranberries and walnuts by hand.
7. Form a log (10 x 2.5 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be very sticky; use some flour to handle dough more easily.
8. Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown.
   
9. After 35 minutes, remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F.
10. Cut logs on diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake for another 10 minutes.

And there you go, biscotti to go with your favourite cup of coffee. Thinking of biscotti, I really miss those wonderful almond biscotti from Dome Cafe back home. I shall try almond biscotti the next time when I want to bake something simple, delicious and fast.