A few days ago I had a huge craving for crunchy sweet nutty biscotti. And there’s an old adage *why go to the grocery store and buy something for a few dollars when you can make it yourself at home for triple the price and more time consuming*?!

I accidentally bought unsalted pistachio nuts from Trader Joe’s last weekend and the recipe Im using called for unsalted pistachio nuts which was perfect except I had to Shell them all by hand. It wasn’t an easy task but I did it!

I won’t be buying unsalted pistachios again! Baking with them was the best solution to an untasty mistake!

Ingredients :

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted pistachio nuts
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 3 eggs
  • juice from 1/2 of the lemon you just zested
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I always use parchment paper, makes cleanup so easy!)
  • In the large bowl, stir together, with a fork, the flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt until blended.
  • Add the pistachios and almonds and toss throughout the flour mixture.
Shelling pistachios definitely helps build dexterity!
I used what I had at home to make this recipe, that meant picking out the almonds from this nut blend (that I didn’t like anyway!)
  • In a measuring glass or small bowl, beat together the eggs, lemon juice and almond extract.
  • Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredient bowl and stir. The mix will become difficult to mix with your spoon. With very, very clean  hands finish mixing the dough until the dough comes together.
  • Place the 2 dough sections on to the cookie sheets. Shape the dough into 2 equal logs. Space them about 3 inches apart. Flatten the logs into 2 inch by 10 inches. The dough will be sticky, I wet my hands so the dough stays on the log and not my hands!
  • Place the baking sheet on the center rack of your oven and bake for 40 minutes.
  • Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and allow the logs to cool for 15 minutes. (Leave the oven on)
  • Cut the logs into 1/2″ slices with a sharp knife.
  • Place slices on the baking sheet cut side down. No need to worry about spacing them apart, they won’t spread out anymore at this point.
  • Bake the biscotti another 20 minutes.

You can use the base of this recipe and change out the nuts to make a variety of biscotti flavors. Add chocolate chips and a 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to make a chocolate chip biscotti. With this recipe your options are endless…. feel free to add dried fruit, other nuts you enjoy and any other flavored chips… Enjoy!

Enjoying my biscotti with a glass of dalgona coffee!

Rachel

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