Cold Weather Goodies

Today suddenly turned very cold. Very strange considering that in the last month we've had several days of above 80-degree temperatures. But not today - today, the first full day of spring, it turned cold and blustery. It very much reminds me of Paris when we were there 2 weeks ago. Well, except for the fact that the sun is shining, which is not like Paris was at all.

One of the things that I love to do when the weather is cold is fix myself a cup of tea or coffee and have a biscotti or two. I've been doing that lately, both in the morning, and as my dessert at night. I brought some really strong English tea back from Paris with me that I just love. A biscotti dunked in that after dinner - nothing better. What I don't like is paying a bunch of money for my biscotti, so every time I shelled it out at Starbucks or Central Market I thought about whether I could make my own.

I decided to try the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook that I got for Christmas from the in-laws after I saw her make the recipe on tv. Her recipe calls for dried cranberries and pistachios - the combination with the light color of the biscotti is supposed to remind you of the Italian flag. Popular Christmas cookie... Anyway, the first time I made them I went all over creation trying to find roasted, unsalted, unshelled pistachios. I think I finally got them in the bulk aisle at Central Market. I made them I think twice with the pistachios but because I always have an abundance of pecans in the house I've switched and probably won't go back unless it's a Christmas gift cookie this year. Each time I've made them I've played with the width and height of the cookie, to see if I like a short fat or long skinny biscotti better. I think I'm going to stick with the one that equals less calories per cookie ;)

Here's the recipe, adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook:

Cranberry Pecan Biscotti
Yields 4 dozen
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup boiling water
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs and 1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecans, chopped coarsely

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
Place cranberries in a small bowl; add boiling water. Let stand until plump, about 15 minutes.
Drain, and set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar
on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating to
incorporate after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla.
Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed until combined. Mix in cranberries and pecans.
Don't mix too much as you'll break the pecans into smaller pieces.

3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape each piece into a
log and transfer to prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. With the palm
of your hand, flatten logs slightly. Brush beaten egg over surface of the dough logs, and
sprinkle generously with sugar. If you flatten more, you'll get a longer, thinner biscotti, with more crunchy surface area. Keep it domed and you'll get a thicker biscotti, with perhaps a little softer center. Give yourself plenty of sugar on top, for that nice cruncy exterior.

4. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until logs are slightly firm to touch, about 25
minutes. Transfer logs on parchment paper to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 20 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 300°. At this point, you could forego the second baking and they would be "unscotti" - "once baked" - they are tasty as well, just different, and not as fit for dunking.

5. Place logs on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise on the diagonal
into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place a wire rack on a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange slices,
cut sides down, on rack. Bake until firm to touch, about 30 minutes, turning once in the baking if you like, to give both sides an even crunch.. Remove pan from oven; let biscotti cool completely on rack. Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Personally, I would keep them much longer - what are they gonna do, get more crunchy? Heaven forbid!

I am the captain of my suburban food domain.