With these Honey Pistachio Biscotti, I would like a do-over. Please and thank you. You know what a do-over is: another chance, a big pink eraser for life, apple Z on a Mac. See, this biscotti recipe called for dried cranberries to accompany the pistachios. Cranberries would have been lovely, right? Well I was completely out, and couldn’t muster up the gumption to get to the store to buy any. Well that was a mistake, and as mention before, I would like a do-over.
Here are a few other things I would like a do-over on… since I’m here-
-Dressing up as an Old Granny for Halloween when I was 17. That was the year when all the female costumes got a little more risque. I didn’t get the memo that French maid and slutty witch were in fashion, and it was just awkward. Who wants an Old Granny at a Halloween party? I think it was my Mom’s idea. Do-over please.
– Cheating on a spelling test when I was in 5th grade. I was a horrible cheater and would have done better on the test if I had just tried myself.
-Not telling Hayden, my first crush that I was was dreamy eyed over him. Those were back in the days when my bangs were doing strange things with hairspray… yea. Do-over on both the secret crush and the bangs please.
Ok, enough is enough. Back to the cookies. These biscotti turned out crisp and crunchy, with a round sweetness from the honey. They weren’t a complete disaster. I did manage to eat most of them myself. I just can’t help but think how much more glorious they would have been with the cranberries. I bet they would also be good with if you left out the honey and added chunks of white chocolate!
Cranberry Honey Pistachio Biscotti
adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook
1 1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
scant 1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shelled, salted natural pistachios (not dyed red)
1 large egg beaten with one teaspoon of water, for an egg wash
Soak cranberries in boiling water to cover in a small bowl until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain, then pat them dry with a paper towel.
Put a rack in the middle of oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet, knocking off excess flour.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and honey and mix with an electric mixer at medium speed until dough forms. Add cranberries ad pistachios and mix at low speed.
Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead several times. Halve dough. Using floured hands, form each half into a slightly flattened 13-by-2-inch log on baking sheet, spacing logs about 3 inches apart. Brush logs with egg wash.
Bake until golden 25 to 30 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack for 10 minutes. (Leave oven on.)
Transfer logs to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange slices, cut side down in one layer on a baking sheet (it’s fine if slices touch each other). Bake, turning once, until golden and crisp, 20-25 minutes. Transfer biscotti to racks to cool.
Sarah
One and a half cups is SO not enough flour. It was more like a batter than a dough…I ended up having to use close to 6 cups of flour to get it to a dough-like consistancy. Theyre in the oven now…hopefully they turn out ok!
kristin
i just tried this recipe and added extra flour (2 1/2 c total) and the dough was still too wet. should there be butter in this recipe?
Stacy
I’m about to make these and I went on the gourmet site (soon to be gone forever =( ). They used 2 1/2 cups of flour, so I think I’m going to try that way. Hopefully it works!
p.s., I loooove this site. Everything I’ve made from these recipes has been a hit!
Lena
Are you sure the amount of flour required here is 1 1/2 cups and not
2 1/2 cups? I saw an almost identical recipe described on epicurious.com website (without honey) and attributed to Carol Field, and it contained 2 1/2 cups of flour. Also, for the amount of sugar used in this recipe, 1 1/2 cups of flour appears to be too little. Thanks.
Joanne
Yes, there’s way too little flour! I followed the recipe exactly and it didn’t form dough so much as cake batter. I spent $10 on those pistachios. :(
Dana
Um…yes…the childhood bangs… I feel ya. Do-over PLEASE! What was I thinking!??!?! But hey, if we never made mistakes, we’d never learn from them, right…? At any rate, these biscotti still look good, even if you’d like a do-over :).
Mansi
This looks truly spectacular! I’ve made biscotti before but they tend to get a little bit harder…maybe b’coz I used 2 eggs?? rest of the ingredients were same as yours…any suggestions?:)
Tartelette
Girl, you are blogging faster than your shadow..I can keep up!
What a great biscotti recipe, simple, fresh and I bet delicious!!
Joanna in the kitchen
Those look really great. I have never tried pistachio biscotti but those on your photos look very convincing :-)
Meeta
I absolutely love pistachios and pairing it with honey in a biscotti is fantastic. Looks lovely Joy!
Deborah
Oh, I could probably go on for quite some time about all of the the things I’d like to do over. But this biscotti sounds worthy of a do over!
RecipeGirl
And, hey… you live and learn, right? White Chocolate and cranberries sound like they’d be a lovely addition. In fact, maybe dipping the biscotti in a little white chocolate just might do the trick. Your pictures are amazing!
laurie
I have too many do-overs to list. Its a loooong list.
Your biscotti look fab!
linda
Ha ha, dressing up as a granny! I’d wanna do that over again too ;)
Love the addition of honey in the biscotti. Love the picture of the pistachio’s!
Linda
Great post Joy! I have a love/hate relationship with biscotti. Sometimes they are just too damn hard to eat :(
If I could have a do-over it would be to
1. Tell my boyfriend that I liked him in Year 10 instead of Year 12 so that we could of had another 2 years together :)
2. Thinking that having cropped hair for almost 5 years was attractive. Luckily I’ve grown it out this year so I’m looking much better!
3. Going to university straight out of high school. I wish I went around the world for a year instead :)
Emiline
Mmm, pistachios.
I think your biscotti looks perfect. I wish I could have loaned you some cranberries. We have a gigantic bag of them here.