Like a Field of Happy! – Sunday’s discovery of massive fields of sunflowers in West Amwell, NJ
Well, I had some of my pumpkin leftover from Sunday’s scones and kept on thinking I didn’t want to throw it away. I guess the Autumn bug has really bitten me because I am dreaming about Biscotti already. Biscotti are some of my very favorite cookies – mostly because I love crunchy cookies. I experiment with biscotti often – but it usually doesn’t begin until we are getting ready for Christmas. I’m not sure what got into me on Monday, but a good pumpkin biscotti was stuck in the back of my mind. I looked at a lot of recipes but most just didn’t do it for me. A lot had icings on them and I don’t prefer this. But mostly, I liked the spice profile I got from the scones on Sunday and I decided to mimic this in these biscotti.
So, I went to work and developed this:
PUMPKIN BISCOTTI WITH GINGER, TOASTED PECANS AND DRIED CRANBERRIES
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
generous 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup crystalized ginger, minced
1 cup toasted pecans, cooled and chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add to the wet mixture the crystalized ginger, cooled pecans and dried cranberries. Stir to combine. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and combine with a wooden spoon just until the flour disappears.
Divide the dough in half. With floured hands, work each piece into a log approximately 12″ long. Smooth top.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and lower oven temperature to 325F. Cool logs 10 minutes.
Cut each log into diagonal pieces about 1/2″ thick. Turn onto their sides and return to the baking sheet. Bake additional 15 minutes, turning once to further cook on both sides. Enjoy!
Half of these went to Christin and half to my very favorite “dog-sitter”, Buddy!