Giada De Laurentiis puts a festive spin on crunchy biscotti cookies with her white chocolate garnish with red and green candy stripes.
Directions for: Holiday Biscotti
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
cup sugar
cup unsalted butter, (1 stick) room temperature
1 tsp lemon zest, grated
tsp salt
2 large eggs
cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
cup dried cranberries
12 oz good-quality white chocolate, chopped
Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
3. Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
4. Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.
5. Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.
6. The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.
See more: Christmas, Chocolate, Nuts, Dessert, Cookies