Cranberry Orange Biscotti

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

Half way through the week!  Woohoo!!  I can’t wait for my break.  It’s so nice because our company is closed the week between Christmas and New Years!  That means lost of cooking and I get to make things that take a little longer instead of rushing my dinner meals.

Today I made Cranberry Orange Biscotti.  I have been wanting to make Biscotti for a while and I just love the combination of orange and cranberry together.  It kind of takes after my Cranberry Orange Scones, which are so good.  I plan on making them this weekend.  I wish I could make them at night, but they taste so much better the day you make them.

Making the biscotti I cut back on the sugar in the cookie, since I have a orange glaze over the top.  Whenever I make anything that has a glaze or has chocolate in it, I tend to cut back on the sugar.  I don’t think it’s missed and it makes it a little healthier.

This biscotti is made with dried cranberries, fresh orange zest and orange juice. It’s crispy on the edges and the center is a tad softer which makes a good cookie. These biscotti is so perfect for a holiday breakfast or brunch.

Whats nice about biscotti is you can store it in a airtight container for up to 3 weeks or if you don’t put the glaze on them, you can freeze it for up to 3 months!  However I don’t think they would last enough to freeze them.

The dough is super duper soft, so you will need extra flour when forming your loafs.  Be prepared for sticky fingers!  But trust me it’s worth it!  I took a batch of these to work and most gotten eaten up.  Hope there some tomorrow when I get to work.  There so good dipped in coffee or by themselves!  You have to make these!

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. Butter, softened or Margarine (I used Earth Balance)

1/2 Cup Sugar

4 Large Eggs or Egg Substitute

1 Tbsp. Orange Zest

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2/3 Cup Dried Cranberries

2/3 Cups Chopped Pecans, lightly toasted

For the glaze

3/4 Cups Confectioners’ Sugar

2-3 tablespoons Fresh Orange Juice (I used juice of half an orange)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds positions. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sugar on medium speed until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Continue to beat the mixture for 2 minutes more. Beat in the orange zest and vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. On low speed, mix in the cranberries and the pecans.

Transfer the dough to a very lightly floured work surface, and divide it into 3 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a 12-inch log, spacing two of the logs apart on one of the prepared baking sheets and the third log on the second sheet.

Bake the logs for 15-18 minutes, until golden on top and lightly cracked. Transfer the positions of the baking sheets halfway through the baking process. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300F degrees.

Using a serrated knife, cut each log on the diagonal into 3/4-inch slices. Lay the slices on their sides and return the baking sheets to the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, and enough orange juice to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the warm biscotti, then allow the biscotti to rest until the glaze has set.

Makes 48 Cookies

Calorie per Biscotti:  64.4,  Fat:  1.8,  Cholesterol:  .1,  Sodium:  27,  Potassium:  30,  Carbs:  11,  Fiber:  .08,  Sugar:  5.3,  Protein:  1.5

What is your favorite kind of Biscotti?  I am really liking this one and I also love plain old Almond Biscotti which will be the next one I tackle!

Venting time!  Ok, I need to get this out there.  You know how I watch Exercise TV to get my workouts in.  Well OnDemand cancelled Exercise TV and now it’s Fit TV.  It sucks!  Yes, I will use that word!  The workouts are horrible!  The instructors are people who I never heard of, they don’t tell you proper form, the workouts are short and plain and simple, it’s stinky!  Ok, I needed to get that out!  Now I’m lost on my workouts.  I finally started and exercise program that I loved and now I have to wait till January for the DVD to sell on QVC.  Sigh…  I like that I could turn my tv on and just pick a workout, like my own workout library and now I am going to have to start buying DVD’s.  So for you workout guru’s do you have any recommedations of good workout DVD’s?  Or do you workout to Fit TV?  Which workout do you like?  Any input would be wonderful because I just don’t know what to do!  Ok, thanks for listening to me vent, I just needed to get that off my chest!  Time to cool myself down with a Biscotti!  🙂

Have a wonderful day!!!

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