Orange Cranberry and Almond Biscotti

A Christmas on the road. That is the story for us this year. Four days, three states, and two extended families. Over bunches of rivers through lots of woods, and over one very large bay.

Whenever I go to someone’s house, I always offer to bring something, and the request is usually for dessert. As you may have guessed from reading the archives around here, dessert is kind of my specialty. But with being away so long, and with multiple destinations, it makes it really hard to carry something elaborate, like a cake, beyond the first stop.

So what do you take? Biscotti! The magic cookie that lasts forever, and is as fresh 2 weeks later as it was the day it was made. Luckily, Mother Nature gave me an early Christmas gift the weekend before the holiday, so I was able to devote an entire Saturday to making these marvelous twice baked cookies.

When I went looking on the interwebs for a biscotti recipe, I wanted something that screamed “CHRISTMAS!” And what says Christmas more than oranges and cranberries. It flashes me back to Christmas mornings with an orange in the toe of your stocking, be it a real orange or a chocolate one. And cranberries take me to the holiday table, with dishes of cranberry passed to adorn that ever present holiday bird.

Orange Cranberry and Almond Biscotti
Adapted from All Recipes

A lot of biscotti can be kind of understated, with mild flavoring. So I looked for a recipe with bold flavors that would really stick out on the Christmas cookie plate. I started with this orange cranberry recipe because it included orange zest AND orange liquor (Cointreau anyone?) for an extra orange kick. I used a half a cup of almond meal instead of slivered almonds, because I’m not a huge fan of chunks of nuts in my cookies, but I still wanted that almond flavor. And finally–and on a whim–I added about a 1/4 teaspoon of cloves just to kick it up. Cause it’s Christmas. And we want our recipe spicy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 2 tablespoons orange liqueur
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup almond meal

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Stir in the orange zest and orange liqueur. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves and cinnamon, stir into the creamed mixture, then stir in the almonds and dried cranberries.
On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a log about 1 1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long. Set the rolls lengthwise on a baking sheet at least 3 inches apart, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm to the touch and slightly brown on the top.
Cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then slice each log crosswise, at a diagonal, into 1/2 inch wide slices. Lay them cut side down on the baking sheet and return to the oven for ten minutes, turn them over and bake for 10 more minutes. Cool on wire racks, store in an airtight container. These keep for over a month.

The perfect Christmas dessert for holidays on the road! And if there are leftovers, they’ll still be fresh enough for a trip to the office in the new year!

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