pistachio cranberry biscotti

in italian, biscotti just means cookies – any type.  biscotti could be bite sized or as big as your head, flat or thick, crunchy or chewy, round or cut into shapes.  in the u.s., we have somehow adopted the word biscotti to mean a specific tuscan treat – a fairly basic cookie dough baked as a loaf, sliced and baked a second time.  they are perfect for dunking in coffee or tea, but were traditionally served with dessert wine.

i decided to try my hand at making vegan biscotti with a couple of flavorful twists – since the holidays, cranberries have been extremely cheep at the market (i got a whole bag for only $1) and they are a perfect pairing for pistachios, one of my favorite nuts to put in desserts.  with a little flax meal to replace the egg, this is a simple cookie to make, it just requires a bit more oven time.  but hey, it’s worth it to have an excuse to eat cookies for breakfast!

pistachio cranberry biscotti
3 tbsp flax meal
5 tbsp water
1 c sugar
1/3 c oil (peanut, canola or even olive oil works)
1/4 c apple sauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 c pistachios
1 c fresh cranberries

begin by adding the flax meal and water and setting aside.  when the flax meal is hydrated by the water it becomes thick, perfect for replacing the egg in the recipe.

mix the sugar, oil, apple sauce and extracts in a small bowl.  once the flax meal mixture is slightly thick add that in too.

sift together the flour, baking powder and ginger in a large bowl.  add the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.  coarsely chop the pistachios and rinse the cranberries, mix them in last.  note: i used salted pistachios, if you use unsalted ones add 1/4 tsp salt to your dough.

preheat your oven to 300F and over a cookie sheet in parchment paper or aluminum foil.  wet your hands and take half of the cookie dough out and form a flat, rectangular loaf on half of the cookie sheet.  do the same with the other half of the dough on the other half of the cookie sheet – make sure to leave a little room about the edges as it will expand slightly when baked.

bake for 45 minutes until starting to brown slightly around the edges.

take out and reduce the oven to 275F. cool until you can handle the loaves.  carefully remove from the cookie sheet and slice across with a serrated knife.  be very careful with this step, if they are still warm they tend to fall apart.

lay the slices on the cookie sheet covered with a new piece of parchiment or alumimum foil.  bake for 20 minutes, turn them over and bake for an additional 20 minutes on the other side.  at this point they should be crisp and crunchy and ready to enjoy!