Biscotti Recipe – Cranberry and Almond Biscotti for Diwali

You know the one good thing that happens when you have friends who bake the most awesome stuff? You get to taste most of the goodies. Well most of the time if you live in the same city, but in my case, I am always drooling over the pics she shares with me. I convince her that she has to bake a goodie basket for me, but that never happens! I convince Gauri every year to share a fab, non-fussy recipe that can be fun to make. This year for Diwali, she’s shared a Biscotti recipe.

Often only the names of baked goods are enough to give anyone jitters. Mostly we consider baking to be somewhat akin to rocket science. Biscotti is one such thing. Let’s quickly look at the super easy Biscotti recipe that you’ll want to try soon and make a batch to gift it this Diwali!

 

Biscotti Recipe – Cranberry and Almond Biscotti for Diwali

What is a biscotti? Biscotti is an oblong shaped almond based cookie which originated in the Prato region of Italy. It is twice baked to give it a crisp crunchiness, which makes this a perfect sort of cookie to have either by itself, or dunked in your favorite hot beverage.

It isn’t as complicated as it sounds. It just needs a few ingredients that can be sourced in your kitchen, and it is quite flexible, so you can tweak the recipe to suit your own palate.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Maida or All purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8^th tsp salt
• 1/4^th cup + 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4^th cup + 1 tbsp castor sugar or powdered sugar (not icing sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4^th cup roughly chopped almonds
• 1/4^th cup roughly chopped dried cranberries
• milk – just enough to form a dough

 

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Beat the oil and sugar for a minute. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 15 seconds more.
3. Sift all the dry ingredients once. Put the sifted dry ingredients into the oil sugar mixture, add the nuts and dry fruits and mix well with a spatula or a spoon.
4. Add a small amount of milk, as necessary, until it just comes together as a dough.  Do not knead, otherwise the biscotti will turn out chewy instead of crisp.
5. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Take it out, shape it into a log about 6 to 7 inches long and place it on the prepared baking tray.
6. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until a thin crust forms on the surface.
7. Allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut into long thin slices using a serrated knife. Place them back onto the tray, cut side facing upwards, and bake again for 10 minutes.
8. Flip the cookies once again and bake the other side for 10 more minutes.

Allow them to cool. Store them in an airtight container, or pack them in plastic ziplock bags and place them in individual gift boxes as a wonderful and innovative Diwali gifting idea.

Isn’t this the most simplest and best biscotti recipe ever? Give those store made sweets a miss and try gifting something different this festive season. So are you going to bake these for Diwali gifting this season? Let me know! 

Gauri is the awesome baker behind Lil White Oven. Her creations are fabulous and she’s been featured in magazines too. Follow her on her Facebook and Instagram pages. If you want to join one of her classes before they are sold out, follow her updates here.