The third biscotti recipe in the trilogy with Triple Chocolate Vegan Biscotti and Simple Vegan Almond Biscotti is my favorite: a cranberry orange pistachio biscotti. I love the orange flavor the zest adds to the dough. The cranberries are chewy and sweet and the pistachios add rich flavor and a little saltiness. These are a wonderful cookie to serve around Thanksgiving and Christmas, or any fall or winter holiday.
Even though I made my other two biscotti recipes with both all purpose flour and whole wheat flour, I used only all purpose flour for this cranberry batch. If you want to add whole wheat flour, substitute 2/3 cup of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. You will also need to increase the amount of the applesauce by 1 tablespoon (noted in the recipe). I find that the wheat flour absorbs the applesauce more, so a little additional bit is needed to hold the dough together.
Depending on how wide and deep you make your biscotti loaves before baking, you will get a varying number of servings. My biscotti “loaves” were always about 8 to 9 inches long, 4 inches wide and 3/4 inch deep. I tried to slice each biscotti so that it was about 3/4 inch thick. I would get 24 slices per recipe, more or less (usually more counting the end pieces).
When cutting the biscotti, I’ve seen advice to use just a push down on your knife, rather than a sawing motion. But when I’ve tried this, the biscotti is squished down by the cut. What I have found works best is using a serrated knife, especially a knife made for cutting bread. Instead of just pushing down on the knife, I use a very small rapid sawing motion, while holding the biscotti securely into place (watch your fingers!). This gave me very little crumbling, a sharp cut, and no smashed down or broken biscotti slices.
When the biscotti are baking for the second time, I like to flip them over at the halfway point. It just seems like a good way to insure that both sides are crispy. I’ve always done it, but I’m not sure it’s necessary.
If you make this recipe, let me know! These are very delicious!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 to 30 minutes |
| Passive Time | 15 minutes for cooling |
| Servings |
biscotti
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- zest of 1 orange
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted and cooled almost to room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup applesauce PLUS 1 tablespoon additional applesauce if using any whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour or 1-1/3 cup AP flour + 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup pistachio nuts crushed into smaller pieces
Ingredients
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|
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the zest of one orange, coconut oil and granulated sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract and applesauce.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together.
- Using a spatula, add the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl of wet ingredients, adding about 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time to the larger bowl. Once combined, add the next third of the flour mixture.
- After the final third of flour has been added, use your hands to gather any crumbs into the flour and form a cohesive dough ball. Add in the dried cranberries and crushed pistachios and use a gentle kneading motion, with the dough still in the bowl, to work them into the dough. Once the add-ins look evenly spread throughout, divide the dough into two halves.
- Use your hands to shape the dough into two "loaves" 8 to 9 inches long. Place them the baking sheet a few inches apart and use your hands to flatten the dough until it is about an even 3/4 inches deep throughout. Even or smooth the sides and ends of the loaves using your hands.
- After shaping the second loaf, sprinkle the tops of the loaves with coarse granulated sugar, if desired. place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Then remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the oven heat to 325° F. Remove and dispose of the parchment paper from the baking sheet. Slice each loaf into 3/4-inch thick slices, laying each slice back onto the baking sheet on its side. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more, turning over halfway through baking.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the biscotti cool for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.
- Store in a cookie jar or other covered container at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks. You can also freeze biscotti for up to three months.
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