Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Alright! This is the last post in my Green Mountain at Fox Run contest series that I've been doing this week. If you haven't read the other two (Super Smoothie and Berry-Lemon Muffins), please do!

Today I made Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti.



It turned out to be a surprisingly frustrating recipe, but that was mostly my fault. It calls for dried cranberries, reconstituted with some hot water and then drained. Well, we had a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer, so I figured I'd thaw those out and use them. Well, they had way too much juice in them and I didn't drain them nearly well enough. So, when I added them to the dough, it was waaay too watery and I had to add about a cup and a half more flour. Lesson of the day...? Follow the recipe.

After all of my problems, they actually came out pretty good, and they're totally delicious. Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup salted shelled natural pistachios

Method
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, cover dried cranberries in boiling water and soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels.

- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until dough forms. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix well (using spoon or by hand).

- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead several times. Halve dough and then form each half into a 13-by-2 inch slightly flattened log. Place logs on a greased and floured baking sheet, using floured hands and spacing logs about 3 inches apart.



- Bake in middle of oven until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer logs to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Arrange slices, cut-side down, in a single layer on baking sheet (don't worry if slices touch each other) Bake in middle of oven, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 20 to 25 minutes total.



They're just so pretty! The little dots of red and green are fun, and biting into the crunchy pistachios and sweet/tart cranberries make this probably the best biscotti I've ever had. My only deviation from the original recipe was my whole fresh cranberry debacle. Next time I make this, I'll use the dried instead, and it will be much quicker and easier!



Well, that wraps up my contest post series. You can find lots more awesome/delicious/healthy recipes at the Green Mountain at Fox Run website. Under the "support" tab, click on "healthy recipes". I'll definitely be making more of them once we finish up all the baked goods we have in the house right now. They have also gotten me hooked on smoothies! So check them out, and if you find a recipe you'd like me to try and post about, leave a comment and let me know!

Enjoy!

Spa Cuisine courtesy of the spa cuisine collection found at Green Mountain at Fox Run Weight Loss and Health Spa for Women, Vermont and SpaIndex.com: Guide to Spas.