Cranberry Sugar Crusted Biscotti

By mitzzy

Fresh, scarlet cranberries, perfectly tart and flavourful, dot this sweet , oranged accented biscotti dough. A special technique 'sugars' these special big, bold slabs of holiday biscotti just so.

Ingredients

• 1 small seedless clementine or orange, finely ground up (food processor)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup cranberry juice
• 4-5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans *
• Cranberry Sugar Dipping Mixture
• 1-2 cups cranberry juice
• 1-2 cups sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Stack two baking sheets together and line the top one with parchment paper. Generously spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and place on the baking sheet. Line baking pan with parchment paper, sides and bottom.

Chop cranberries and set aside. Grind the orange, entirely, in a food processor and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together most of the flour, salt, baking powder. In a large mixer bowl, blend the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add in eggs and then cranberry juice and ground up orange. Fold in dry ingredients to make a smooth batter, then stir in cranberries and nuts. Batter will be wet and sticky but add enough flour so it is not too wet or slack. The cranberries, if frozen, will help firm up the batter.

Spoon batter into the pan. Flatten with wet hands or a wet, long metal spatula.

Bake until set (45 -80 minutes); if edges are browning but center seems not done, reduce temperature to 325 F and allow to bake until set, right through.

Allow to cool for 30-60 minutes, and then carefully remove from baking sheet.
Peel off the paper.

Set out two rectangular pans (7 by 11 inches or so). Fill one with the juice and the other with the one cup of sugar.

Cut biscotti into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Dip slices into juice on each side. Dip, pressing lightly, into the sugar on both sides. Return cookies (gently) to parchment-lined baking sheets, sugar side down or some sugar side down. (Nice to have a variety of finishes). Supplement juice and sugar as needed.

Bake biscotti at 350 F. Turn them once after 20 minutes. Bake for a total of 30 to 35 minutes or until cookies appear crisp and dry. When they are done, they will be crunchy and sugar will look caramelized. If the consistency is not to your liking, simply return the biscotti to the oven for a few minutes. These are sticky, chewy, crisp biscotti -not rock hard. Wrap each biscotti stick separately in wax paper, then a cello bag or store in a shoe box (everything else seems to make them too sticky after awhile.

Miniature Biscotti Bites:
Cut baked biscotti in 1 1/2 inch squares (cut the diagonal slices, then cut each slice into squares). Dip in wine, then roll well in sugar. Bake in baking sheet, about 20 minutes at 375 F. until crunchy.