Orange Cranberry Almond Biscotti

This crunchy Italian treat is perfect for dunking in your coffee or tea!

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 and 1/4 cups white sugar

1 pinch salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. orange zest (the zest of about 1 med. orange)

3 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Juice from 1 medium orange

5 Tbsp. chopped almonds, toasted, divided use

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Chop your almonds and place them in a skillet or on a baking sheet. Toast them over the stove or in the oven for 7-8 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar,  salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cranberries, orange zest and 3 Tbsp. of the almonds. In a separate bowl whisk the 3 eggs and then mix in the vegetable oil, almond extract, and squeezed juice from the orange. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture. Mix the dough by hand until it comes together in a ball. It may seem too dry at first but just keep mixing with your hands and it will come together. 

After mixing, separate the dough into equal halves and roll each half into a log about 8" long. Place the dough logs on the prepared baking sheet and flatten so they are about 3/4" thick. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-27 minutes. 

 Before baking

After baking for the 1st time

Cool the dough until it is not longer warm, about 30 minutes, then remove from the baking sheets and place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, slice the dough diagonally into 1/2" slices. Lay the slices on their sides and place them back on the cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 more minutes, turning the slices over to the other side halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. The finished biscotti should be hard and crunchy.

When the biscotti have completely cooled, melt your white chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals so that they don't burn. Dip the biscotti into the melted chocolate or drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti. Sprinkle the remaining 2 Tbsp. of chopped, toasted almonds over the chocolate and gently press them into the chocolate so that they are secured. Allow the chocolate to harden (you can put the tray of biscotti in the fridge to speed this up) and serve with coffee or tea for dunking. Store in an airtight container on the countertop.

*Recipe by Brooke McMillan