Orange Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

This biscotti is flavoured with orange zest and dotted with dried cranberries and roasted pistachios making for a beautiful festive holiday cookie that is sure to please anyone on your list! The chewy dried cranberries paired with the crunchy pistachios makes for a delicious texture combination.

I typically make biscotti every Christmas. I tend to play around with different flavour combinations - since the possibilities are seemingly endless. This year I decided to go with an orange, cranberry and pistachio flavour. I love the way that it turned out! The pistachios and cranberries make for a very festive looking biscotti and all of the flavours play really well together. Adding a drizzle of white chocolate finishes off this beautiful looking biscotti making it extra festive and perfect for the holidays! 

Biscotti is a cookie that you bake twice. First as a log, then you cut it into individual cookies and bake it again. The second baking helps to toast the cookies, drying them out. This means that the cookies last for longer than your typical cookie. This is one of the things I love about making biscotti for the holidays. You can make it early on, giving you plenty of time to prepare other dishes or baking closer to Christmas. Biscotti also makes a simple and affordable gift for friends and family to enjoy with their coffee or tea.  Wrapped in a beautiful mug with some cellophane it makes for an adorable hostess gift!

Orange Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

1 c sugar 

2 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla 

2 1/4 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 tbsp orange zest

1/2 c dried cranberries 

1/2 c  roasted pistachios, chopped 

1/4 c white chocolate chips, melted

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. 

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium to high speed beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in vanilla. 

On low speed, mix dry ingredients into wet, until just combined. The dough will be fairly dry but should start to come together in large clumps. Stir in orange zest, cranberries and pistachios until just combined. 

Turn dough out onto the countertop. Knead dough until it comes together. Shape into a large log  (about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick) and press to flatten slightly. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. 

Allow biscotti to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting into slices (cut on a diagonal for a more elegant look). Lay slices on baking sheet. 

Bake in a 325F oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and almost dry. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  Drizzle with melted white chocolate.

White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Simple and festive these White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies are the perfect addition to any Christmas cookie tray!

I am so excited to share these cookies with you! They are soft, dense and chewy! Basically everything you want in a sugar cookie. The crushed candy canes add a wonderful festive touch to these cookies - along with a delicious minty flavour that is delicious with the white chocolate chips in the batter. These cookies stay soft & chewy even days after baking - if they last that long! 

These candy cane cookies are one of those quick and easy recipes to add to your holiday baking arsenal. I love a classic sugar cookie - and I know I will be making dozens of them over the holiday. But there is something to be said about quick, easy and simple. No royal icing to mess around with but delicious buttery cookies you can eat straight from the oven. Plus crushing the candy canes for this recipe is a great holiday stress reliever! Ha.  I am sure Santa will appreciate one of these cookies (or two)! 

White Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies 

Makes: 1 dozen large cookies 

Ingredients 

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

1 c sugar 

2 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

2 c flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 c white chocolate chips 

1/4 c candy canes, crushed 

Directions 

Line two baking trays with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium speed cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in vanilla. 

With the mixer on low, beat in the flour, salt and baking powder, until just combined. Do not over mix, the dough should just start to come together. Stir in the white chocolate and crushed candy cane.

Using approx. 1/4 c of dough, roll into a ball and place onto baking sheet, flatted with your hand. Bake 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are slightly browned. The cookies may still have a slight shine to their top when done. Do not over bake.

Earl Grey Cookies

With a hint of vanilla and a whole lot of earl grey flavour these earl grey cookies make for the perfect afternoon treat!

Those that know me, know I am a tea drinker. I may or may not have a slight obsession. I probably have at least 30 different teas in my ever growing collection. The tea I gravitate to most is Earl Grey. As part of my morning ritual, I drink a big warm mug of earl grey tea. One of my favourite earl grey teas is the Cream of Earl Grey. It has a lovely creamy vanilla flavour to it. I tried to capture that flavour in these cookies. 

These cookies have a slightly different texture then my traditional sugar cookies. They are a bit of a hybird between a sugar cookie and a shortbread cookie. A traditional shortbread cookie is typically butter, sugar and flour. In this cookie I have included an egg making it more like a sugar cookie. However, I kept the ratio of butter, sugar and flour the same as shortbread cookie. These cookies have a denser crumbly texture and a richer buttery flavour then my usual sugar cookie.

Earl Grey Cookies

Makes: 24-30 cookies

Ingredients

1 c butter, at room temperature

1 c icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c flour

2 tbsp earl grey tea leaves (approx. 4 tea bags)

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium-high speed cream together butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. On medium speed beat in egg & vanilla until just combined. On low speed add flour & earl grey leaves to mixture. Mix until just combined. Dough should come together into a large ball. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Roll into logs (approx. 2 inches in diameter), wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in fridge for minimum 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove logs from plastic wrap. With a sharp knife cut cookies off log 1/3-1/2 inch thick.

Transfer cookie to prepared baking tray, spacing them out baking 12 per tray. The cookies won't spread much when baking. Bake for 12-16 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Baking time will vary based on the thickness of the cookies. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.