Follow my easy steps to make Chocolate Orange biscotti laden with bits of cranberry and pistachio. This cookie recipe is best described as a crunchy cookie with the flavor component of Terry’s Chocolate Orange Slices. If you grew up loving this chocolate holiday treat, you are sure to fall in love with this cookie recipe. Additionally, this holiday cookie is complimented with bits of sweet cranberry and salty pistachios.
Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachios make a colorful Holiday Biscotti.
Chocolate and orange is found in many classic Italian desserts. But the addition of cranberry and pistachio brings colorful pops of red and green to this holiday cookie. For a light dessert, serve your guests this delicious treat with espresso or your favorite coffee beverage. Or consider serving along side a scoop of gelato or ice cream.
Cookie Gifts and Cookie Exchanges
During the holidays, we are all scrambling for unique gifts. And nothing expresses affection and fondness as a home baked gift from your kitchen. Why not package up a lovely jar of biscotti. For smaller gifts, fill cellophane bags with a few biscotti and tie them off with a pretty bow. Additionally, these make excellent thank you gifts for showers, grown up parties and even weddings.
The Texture of Biscotti
Biscotti recipes vary in texture and style. Some biscotti are hard and crunchy making them great dunkers. Usually oils and fats such as butter are used minimally if at all.
Some biscotti have a crispy and airy meringue texture. Generally, this type of biscotti is made with whipped egg whites and sugar.
And finally, there is biscotti made with butter. Much like shortbread, this biscotti has a buttery yet crispy crumb. If you are searching for a buttery biscotti, perhaps you would like my recipe for Maple Biscotti with Pecan and Caramel Bits..
As butter and oil is absent from this recipe, the finished biscotti will be crunchy and firm.
The Chocolate
Dark Chocolate and Orange
Dark chocolate is my favorite component here. And the addition of orange zest and juice, adds bright flavor to the chocolate. During the winter holidays a sweet chocolate and orange confection is widely available called Terry’s Chocolate Orange. This wrapped chocolate globe is smacked on a hard surface. Once the orange wrapper is removed, individual segments are revealed of chocolate accented with orange. In this recipe, the addition of orange zest in this cookie recipe brings bright flavor to the chocolate, mimicking the aforementioned confection.
Generally, I use Guittard or Valrhona brands when baking specialty desserts. I am especially fond of Guittard’s Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers. For this recipe, I prefer to use a chocolate with a cocoa content between 62 and 72 percent. While this is a huge range in the chocolate world, either will work nicely. Oftentimes, Guittard chocolate is available at a savings at discount stores like Target.
Milk Chocolate and Orange
However, not everyone is fond of dark chocolate. In this case, semi-sweet chocolate will work equally well. But let’s be honest, any chocolate is good! So if you prefer, go ahead and use that milk chocolate. The end result will not change the texture of the cookie. At best, it will result in a slightly sweeter cookie.
Pistachios and Cranberries
For the pistachios, I use roasted, salted pistachios that have already been shelled. However, unsalted pistachios or lightly salted nuts will work nicely also. Costco offers shelled pistachios at a very reasonable price.
My preferred dried cranberry brand is the organic whole dried cranberries available at Trader Joe’s. However, any brand will do.
Fiori di Sicilia
The English translation for Fiori di Sicilia is Flower of Sicily. This Italian flavoring is a fragrant combination of orange citrus and vanilla that is often found in baked goods like Panettone, sweet holiday breads, cookies and cakes. While this fragrant extract is optional, it will add a bewitching aroma to your cookies with a distinct orange creamsicle flavor that will transport you to the Patisseries of Italy. I purchase my Fiori di Sicilia from King Arthur Baking but it can also be found in cooking stores like Sur la Table.
A few simple steps
In the event you have never attempted to make biscotti, the idea may be daunting. But actually, they are quite simple. Don’t let them scare you, because the most difficult step is slicing the baked cookies. And when equipped with a good serrated knife, this task is effortless.
- Shape the biscotti dough into a log 4 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches long.
- Allow baked log to cool on pan for 10 minutes.
- When cool enough to handle, transfer to a cooling rack.
- Using a serrated bread knife, cut the log into thin slices, about 1/4 inch wide. *Here is a little tip I recently discovered. Normally, the biscotti logs should cool at least 30-45 minutes before cutting. But due to unforeseen circumstances, my baked log had rested for 24 hours before I was able to begin cutting. As the chocolate had time to completely cool, I noticed that it did not smear when cut. Therefore, if you are off- put by chocolate smudges in your cut cookie slices, the fix is simple. Allow the baked log to cool for at least 2-3 hours before cutting. However when time is not a luxury, the biscotti may be sliced after cooling for 30-45 minutes.
- Continue cutting making evenly spaced cuts.
- Place biscotti on lined baking sheet to prepare for second baking.
Weight Watchers and Waist Watchers
One biscotti is 4 WW Smart Points or 104 calories.
Buon Appetito!
