PISTACHIO & DARK CHOCOLATE BISCUITS

 

The Christmas tree is up and the battle of who has the best twinkly lights in the street is a go-go. As Christmas approaches we start to relax a little and allow our knicker elastic to take on board the extra slightly gluttonous calories. The chocolate tin sits on the living room coffee table beckoning me with colourful wrappers, betting that I end up having to eat the unwanted orange and strawberry cream chocolates. Unexpected guests, always welcomed, line up proudly outside my front door during the festive season…. I always wonder, ‘Is it to simply drop off a Christmas card, to pass good tidings to my children and husband or do they hover due to the pungent aroma that wafts through the kitchen and out of my extractor fan?

 

My postman often comments on the scents that escape when I open the door to welcome in various packages and over purchased cookbooks. The aroma of something cooking, baking or steaming all have that sense of instant yet needy comfort. When I have a spare half hour I occasionally bake treats for when my children come home from school. They are generally exhausted from working incredibly hard, so I’m told, regardless they muster up the energy to act like a plaque of locusts, but I have to say I love it. The idea that I’m a feeder makes me feel needed, loved and wanted.

Christmas gives us all the chance to over bake, over feed and over eat! God I love it so much! These are some of my favourite biscotti. Hard, with a good bite and in my opinion the king of a dunker. Dunk, count to three and remain supreme. For amateur bakers these biscotti are forgiving and incredibly easy to make. I throw in extra nuts and fruit too. If you add an extra spritz of a clementine or orange you may need to balance the added moisture with a little additional flurry of flour.  Bake, cool and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or for 2 hours if you live at Casa Carmela.

Buon appetito

 

Preparation time: 15 minutes                                                            Cooking time: 24 minutes

Makes: 20 biscotti

250g strong white flour

150g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

50g dark chocolate, chopped

50g dried cranberries

50g dried cherries

100g pistachios

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 clementine, zested

2 large eggs

Icing sugar to dust

Preheat oven 180°C / Gas 4

  1. Prepare two baking trays with parchment.
  2. Into a large bowl pour in the flour, sugar, baking powder and stir to incorporate.
  3. Add in the chopped chocolate, nuts, cranberries, cherries, vanilla, zest and eggs.
  4. Stir using a wooden spoon and then use your hands to form the dough.
  5. Sprinkle a little icing sugar over your work surface and roll the dough into a large wide sausage and divide the sausage into thirds (icing sugar will not dry out the dough).
  6. Slightly flatten the three dough portions, place them onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven and place onto a chopping board.  Cut each sausage diagonally into a biscotti size and place each biscotti back onto the baking tray.  Pop back into the oven for 2-3 minutes.

Serve and dip into vin santo, coffee or a Yorkshire brew, alternatively batch cook and hide away for Christmas.