Seven cookies week day 2: Pistachio Clementine Biscotti

Second day of seven day cookie week! I felt kind of crap today and was afraid that this project would fail right at the beginning, but after dinner (carrot and ginger coconut soup, sorry no recipe today) I got some new energy and got baking. The original plan was to make some kind of American cookie in honor of this historical and totally awesome day, but none of the ideas I toyed around with appealed to me, so instead I decided to make biscotti. Maybe that makes sense though, now that we've got a person in the White House who probably can pronounce the word biscotti (and nuclear!) and doesn't think that only terrorist-hugging commies would eat them elitist European cookies. Ok, I totally digress. Sorry.

As far as I know, biscotti are traditionally flavored with hazelnuts, almonds, orange peel/juice and Amaretto (almond liqueur). But they can be flavored with basically anything - chocolate, dried fruits, coffee, berries - I have even seen recipes for salty ones (meant as snack food with a cocktail) that I will try out some day. The idea for this flavor combination comes from a whole other recipe at Tartelette (which I am totally in awe of - divine recipes that has me drooling by the computer, photographies which makes me want to lick the screen and some to die for pastry making skills. Go look for yourselves.). I thought the flavor combination clementine (or satsuma/mandarin) and pistachio would work in a biscotti. And it did!

However, two minor things. First of all, I should have used more pistachios and skipped the almonds, because the pistachios weren't that noticable. Second, I should have used the zest from another clementine, because when you take a bite of the biscotti and get a piece that has a piece of zest in it, then you really get a taste this cookies potential. So if you decide to make this you might want to add that to the recipe.

This should make about 50 biscotti, but every time I seem to end up with loads more. I probably make mine much smaller than intended.



Pistachio Clementine Biscotti (Adapted from Annas Mat by Anna Bergenström)

100 grams pistachios
50 grams almonds
100 grams butter
3 eggs (medium sized)
2 ½ dl sugar
6 dl flour
1 tsp baking powder, brim-full
1 clementine (or satsuma/mandarin), zest and juice

Chop the pistachios and almonds coarsely. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Beat the eggs and the sugar together until the mixture is white and very fluffy. Stir in the butter. Add the zest and juice from the clementine and then the nuts and almonds. Mix in the flour and baking powder, and work into a dough. Pour some flour on your baking board (or other work area), tip out the dough and work it together quickly. It may seem sticky at first, but will come together beatifully after a while. Divide into four equal parts, and form each part to a long roll (not so long that it won't fit your baking sheet though - I already made that mistake for you). Place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Flatten the rolls out with your hand; you want them to be quite flat. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 200 C oven. Let them cool for about five minutes, and then cut them diagonally, about 2 cm wide. Place them with the cut surface up. Dry them in a 75 C oven for about an hour. If kept in an airtight container away from light and heat they will keep for quite a long time.