Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Don’t you just love a good biscotti in the morning with a cup of coffee? These Italian biscotti cookies are loaded with pistachios and cranberries, twice baked to form a crispy delicious cookie, perfect for dunking!
Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti
A few other favorites are Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti, Pumpkin Hazelnut White Chocolate Biscotti and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Biscotti.
My husband always brings up the Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti I posted last year. I try not to make those too often because the two of us have no self-control when I bake them (so good!).
This year I played around with this cranberry-pistachio version which I adapted from last year’s recipe. I cut back on the butter a bit which created a stickier dough… a bit messy to work with so I sprinkling some flour on the dough and cookie tin or you can handle the dough with wet hands but the results where so darn good I wouldn’t change a thing next time!
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 cup all purpose flour, + more for dusting
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup whole unsalted shelled pistachios
- 1/3 cup craisins
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup superfine sugar, you can put sugar in food processor
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Line baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add pistachios, cranberries and mix.
- In a stand mixer, mix butter and sugar on medium speed for 1-1/2 minutes.
- Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined to make a dough.
- Remove the dough (if too sticky sprinkle flour over it and on work surface).
- Divide into three pieces and form into long flat logs about 11 inches long x 1-1/2 inches wide.
- Place on the lined baking sheets and bake 20-25 minutes.
- When cool enough to handle, gently cut the loaves on the angle into 1/2 inch slices (a serrated bread knife works best).
- Return to the baking sheet fitting as many as you can on the baking sheet, you may need to do this in batches.
- Bake the biscotti for another 3-4 minutes on each side, less if you like it softer.
I didn't have mixer and mixed with my hands. It worked and is delicious.
These look great! If I wanted to add white chocolate chips, how much should I add? Or could I replace the pistachios with the white chocolate?
It's been a while since I've last made biscotti, but it's so simple and the results are amazing. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey Gina!
I've just recently fallen across your blog and the receipies i've tried so far have been outstanding! I'm making Christmas gift baskets this year and these are going to be in them. Do you think that I can add white chocolate chips to these? If so, how can I incorporate them?
I have never made biscotti before. Can I make these without the pistachios? Just cranberry biscotti?
sure!
These were great, they just came out of the oven and I'm snacking on them. I ended up making 4 small logs becuase I had an odd size baking sheet so the pieces are a little smaller. I also added some white chocolate chips to them and I loved them! Thanks!!
I made these today and want to ask two questions.
1. The dough was quite sticky so I added a little more flour till it was not sticky anymore. Is that normal?
2. They taste good but felt it was a little too eggy on the taste. What did I do wrong and how can I prevent it from tasting so eggy next time?
thanks!
I can't wait to make these this weekend! Would agave nectar work instead of sugar?
its sooooo good! but i used whole wheat flour instead of white ( saving 70 kcal of entire batch) =)
These were huge hit at work, especially during our coffee breaks. Dipped the end in melted chocolate on same as well, looked and tasted great.
does it make a difference if I use egg whites instead of 2 eggs?
This came out perfect. I didn't pulse sugar in blender and used raisin instead. So yummy. I ate almost 5 of them and was so happy. Thanks Gina. Also I used 1/4 0 cal sugar, 3/4 whole wheat flour and olive oil instead of butter. By mistake I put 1/4 more all purpose flour, I thought it should not be sticky(dough). yum,yum.
Tim_w13
I have made cherry almond, orange almond and definitely will try this. Thanks for sharing
we make these same biscotti every year! They are so good! My favorite biscotti is still key lime coconut!
xoxo.
yikes, sorry about the vanilla, don't forget to add it!!
vanilla step was skipped in your recipe. My biscotti is turning out great! they're cooling to be cut but i tasted a little corner and it is perfect!!! I used salted pistachios because that was all I had, but I don't taste it
I tried it with the 50/50 blend of whole wheat and they came out good! Actually the whole wheat flavor accented the nutty flavor from the pistachios! Kind of like whole wheat pasta does with pine nuts. lol
I made these this evening to take to my pistachio loving mother for the holidays. Despite not being a big pistachio fan, I loved them! I think they may have converted me! I'm sure my mother is going to love them and I'll no doubt be making them for her (and myself!) frequently.
I forgot to add in the vanilla because I didn't see it in the directions when I was preparing the recipe. I used a vanilla sugar though so it didn't affect the biscotti in my opinion. My only real issue when making them was a crumbly cookie for the first few. I tried to cut with a sawing motion instead of slicing straight down. Once I tried slicing down, I had no problem getting the biscotti to stay together.
FYI, I don't think the instructions say when to add the vanilla. I did it with the eggs but almost missed it altogether. They are baking in the oven now and smell delicious! Great recipe! And the plastic wrap trick worked great!
I have always wanted to make biscotti and thanks to your recipe I finally did!! I also substituted almonds for pistachios. I couldn't find shelled pistachios. Can't wait to try them tonight!! Thanks for posting :)- AD
I haven't tried this with fresh cranberries but I think any dried fruit would work better.
Genebean- great tip, I will try that next time!
Aly, I think a blender would work ok.
Christine, chocolate chips would work!
Jen, haven't tried it yet, it might! Start with a 50/50 blend.
I've always made biscotti with superfine but I'm sure it would still work out ok.
Yes, second time is only 3 to 4 minutes.
Do you really only do the 2nd baking for 3-4 minutes??? Or should it read 30-40? When I've made biscotti the 2nd baking is generally around 30"…
I'm looking forward to making these for Christmas! One question…if I'm using regular table sugar, do I still need to put it in a food processor? Will the biscotti still turn out okay if I don't?
Do you think this would work with whole wheat flour?
I make pretty much this exact recipe every year for Christmas. The only difference in mine is that I use Almonds (a more traditional biscotti ingredient) instead of pistachios, and light olive oil instead of butter. I also add a splash of orange and almond extracts to add to the flavor. Yum.
Done.
I really need to make biscotti!
Gina, these look fabulous! But, I am allergic to nuts, would chocolate chips work? Or any other suggestion? BTW, the To Die For Coconut Cookies turned out FABULOUS!!! Absolutely delicious! Made them for all my daughter's teachers – Thanks so much! Happy Holidays!!
Would using a blender have the same effect as a food processor for superfine sugar?
-Aly
My trick is to use plastic wrap sprayed with a bit of oil instead of getting my hands involved. Too tempted to eat the dough otherwise!
Just put half the dough on the plastic and use it to form your log 🙂
These really look great! I have never made biscotti, I must try this recipe soon 🙂
Could I use fresh cranberries instead of Craisins?
My gosh, these look amazing!
My mom makes a recipe just like this, they are sooo good!! I am going to bake some tomorrow if I have some pistachios in the freezer..thanks for posting!
A hand mixer would work fine!
I'm realllllly hoping Santa will put a stand mixer underneath my tree. These are definitely on the list to try once he does (or I suck it up and buy one for myself…)
these look so good but i dont have a stand mixer =[ is there any chance that my hand mixer would suffice?