Cran-Ginger Biscotti

Baking is always fun, especially during the holidays. It really doesn't matter whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or neither…it’s the joy of the season that is best shared with friends and family.

I had never heard of a biscotti until seeing them at a Starbucks, few years back. I fell in love with their chocolate biscotti and the seasonal gingerbread flavor. I also, of course, had to make it at home. And I did,Gingerbread Biscotti.

This cranberry biscotti has been in my head ever since I bought dried cranberries for my fruit cake about three weeks ago. I was just waiting for the right time. It is not very often that my husband agrees to take food items to share with his colleagues, and I was thrilled when he agreed (without any fuss) to take cookies to work. 

Ingredients (Makes 48 small cookies approx)

Vegetable oil – ½ cup

Eggs – 3

Sugar (white/brown) – 1 cup

All purpose flour – 3 ¼ cups (can be a blend of wheat and APF too)

Baking powder – 1 tablespoon

Ginger powder – 1 tablespoon

Freshly grated nutmeg (optional) – 1 tsp

Dried cranberries – 1 cup (can be substituted with nuts and other dry fruits as per taste)

Method

Preheat the oven to 375⁰F.

In a bowl, beat together the oil, eggs and sugar. In another bowl, combine flour(s), baking powder, ginger powder and nutmeg. Stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough.

Divide the dough into half and roll into the length of your cookie sheet. Press down to ½ inch thickness.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Once the cookies are cool enough to touch, slice them into ½ thick slices. The longer slices can then be cut into half or left as is.

Place the cut side facing down,  and bake for another 6-10 minutes or until both sides are crisp and toasty. Enjoy with a cup of coffee of tea. Bon Appétit.