Pumpkin Gingerbread Biscotti

I can't believe Thanksgiving Break is already next week! No students for a week and no work for half the week. We still have professional development and such on Monday and Tuesday, but again, no students, so it's not too terrible. I'm also excited about my family visiting. I haven't seen my dad since the end of summer and I haven't seen my mom and my sister since their visit in October. They're even bringing our two dogs, so I can't wait to see them! I've already got the menu for our dinner planned out and I'll be sharing those recipes soon enough.

Even though Thanksgiving hasn't gone by yet, there are already gingerbread house kits and Christmas decorations for sale at Walmart. It always bothers me when this happens because I'm not ready to think about one holiday when the first one hasn't happened yet. So tonight, I went to another cooking group gathering for a Thanksgiving cookie/candy exchange. We each had to make enough to sample them tonight and take some home to share with whomever.



I went for biscotti. I like biscotti and I haven't made it in a couple years. I still had some homemade pumpkin puree left from when I went pumpkin picking and it's an appropriate ingredient for Thanksgiving. Maybe because it's been a couple years since I've made biscotti, I can't remember how the dough is supposed to be, but I really don't remember it being as sticky as this recipe's dough was. Quite a bit stuck to my hands and I had a difficult time shaping it to look nice. At least the logs got cut into slices so you can't see the bumps on the top of the logs. Still, the biscotti is delicious. A light pumpkin flavor with spices. The white chocolate adds a bit of sweetness and the walnuts add even more crunch to these twice-baked cookies. It was a hit with the ladies in the cooking group!



Some of the cookies that others brought tonight were macarons, cream cheese cherry cookies, molasses cookies, oreo truffles, potato chip toffee bark, chocolate bourbon balls, gingerbread snowflake cookies (so pretty!), and so much more! The organizer of the event provided treat bags so I filled mine up to the top. There were so many leftovers that it was totally acceptable and encouraged.



Pumpkin Gingerbread Biscotti
From The Comfort of Cooking

1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
4 oz real white chocolate, chopped, or white candy melts
3 tbsp chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, sugar and baking powder. Whisk vigorously until the mixture turns pale yellow and falls back in ribbons on itself when you lift out the whisk.

Next, add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and vanilla. Continue whisking, aerating the mixture.

Finally, sift in the flour and fold it in with a spatula.

Shape the dough into a flat log about 3″ wide by 8″ long using wet fingertips. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven, turn the oven down to 300 and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice into 1/2″ slices, place them back on the baking sheet and bake another 30 minutes, flipping them half-way through. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

When ready to serve, prepare chopped walnuts and melt the white chocolate or candy melts. Dip half of each biscotti into the white chocolate, sprinkle with a pinch of walnuts, and let set before serving.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti

The final biscotti recipe I'll be sharing (for this month, at least). I think this might be my favorite flavor of the three. Probably because I love, love, love cinnamon! A housemate also said that this may be the best biscotti that she has had. A lot of biscotti can create a lot of crumbs and be too crunchy as you bite into them, but these create very, very little crumbs and have just the right amount of crunch.

This recipe is a very different biscotti recipe from the other two I've made. The dough is a lot stickier to work with so I had to flour my hands quite frequently. It was also baked at a lower temperature, which is great because my biscotti ended up being a nice pale color but with a faint toasted color. The dough also spread out quite a bit that the biscotti slices were thinner compared to those of the last two recipes, but I liked it because it guaranteed that the center of the logs are fully baked and the slices are crunchy yet moist. I think I prefer the method used in this recipe, but they are all still very tasty.



Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti [Makes about 30]
From The Galley Gourmet

- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 extra large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 1 egg for glazing
- 2 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon


1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (make sure the pans will fit together in the oven).
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, add the butter and sugars and cream until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add two eggs one at a time, beating well. Scrape down the sides. Mix in the vanilla and then the dry ingredients.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a 9-inch long, 1 1/2-inch wide log. Transfer the logs to the baking sheets.
4. In a small bowl beat remaining egg and brush the logs with the egg. Bake until golden brown (dough will spread), about 35 to 40 minutes. The dough will be slightly soft to the touch. Allow the dough to cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes. Maintain the oven temperature.
5. In a small bowl mix the 2 tbsp of sugar and the 3/4 tsp cinnamon. Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board. Using a sharp or serrated knife, cut a sliver off each end (those can be nibbled on). Cut the logs into 3/4-inch wide diagonal slices.
6. Place the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheets. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon sugar mixture over each biscotti. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. Biscotti will still be barely soft in the center, but they will harden as they cool. Cool on the baking sheets. Can be made 1 week in advance. Store in an airtight container.

Brownie Biscotti

Chocolate is a flavor that (almost) everybody loves. I thought it must be included in my variety of biscotti I'm making for Christmas gifts. I was drawn to this recipe by its name because it has the word "brownie" in it. Everybody loves brownies, especially my housemates, so I knew they'd like this one. It's definitely not a sweet chocolate flavor as you might expect from cookies, but it has a deeper chocolate taste that reminds me of brownies. The addition of chocolate chips helps sweeten it up just a tad and make it less plain.

This dough was also easy to work with. Just make sure you flour your hands. When you cut the logs into slices, use a serrated knife or a very sharp knife. Using a back and forth motion too often can make the biscotti crumble so be quick but gentle. I skipped the egg glazing because I ran out of eggs. I used the last four we had to make two batches of this. I can't believe how easy it is to make biscotti. I've made six batches in the last three days and it's no work at all. I should definitely make these for my parents once I'm home for Winter Break. These are really the perfect things to dunk into your coffee! This Brownie Biscotti will probably be even tastier with coffee as it'll taste like mocha.




Brownie Biscotti
From Allrecipes

- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts [Left these out just in case people were allergic]

- 1 egg yolk, beaten [I omitted]
- 1 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
3. Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape into 9x2x1 inch loaves. Place onto baking sheet 4 inches apart. Brush with mixture of water and yolk.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.
5. Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them on their sides. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until dry. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Gingerbread Biscotti

'Tis the season to be jolly. The decorations in town have been up and my university has put up the blue and white Christmas tree to represent our school colors. Still, I cannot believe it is almost Christmas. Maybe more snow would help me. I saw some snow on Thanksgiving and more over last weekend, but it's not enough! A snowstorm is totally not necessary, but just mild snow would be a nice reminder that Christmas is here.

Well, with or without the presence of snow, I still needed to get my act together and make Christmas presents. Though the date is still a while away, the last day of classes is tomorrow (yay!) and our Winter Break starts on the 18th. The eight days in between is when we take our final exams and most people are lucky enough to finish early and head out before the 18th. So that I don't miss people, I need to prepare the gifts to give out by tomorrow.

This year, I decided to bake everyone's present. I had originally wanted to make three different types of cookies, but there were just so many to choose from. Biscotti was one of my three choices so to make it easier, I decided to make three different types of biscotti instead. Here's one of the flavors, Gingerbread Biscotti. The other two I made are Cinnamon Sugar and Brownie, which will appear in later entries. I wanted to share the Gingerbread first as it is more of a Christmas season flavor.




Biscotti has always been on my to-bake list and I am so happy I finally got to make them. A tip for cutting the logs into slices: let them cool for just 7 to 10 minutes. I let my first batch cool for too long after the first bake so my slices weren't cleanly cut. But for the second batch, I let it cool until still slightly warm and the slices were clean! Biscotti is not at all difficult to make and so delicious! I have to stop myself so much from nom-ing on other people's presents... And flour your hands often! The dough is quite sticky.

Gingerbread Biscotti
From A Cozy Kitchen

- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix into egg mixture to form a stiff dough.
3. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie. Place rolls on cookie sheet, and pat down to flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool.
5. When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy.