Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

I bought a new cook book recently, the "Bravo Best of Bridge", and am so excited at the prospect of trying most of the recipes enclosed! One of the recipes that first caught my eye is this Biscotti recipe and it is a keeper.


I was really interested that the creator was chef Sonny Sung from Edmonton! Oh yes, "biscotti" means "twice-cooked". You will need to double the batch because these will disappear. If you don't already have the cookbook, here is the Best of Bridge version of the recipe:









Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cups butter, melted and cooled
grated zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 tbsp white or cider vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped (unsalted if possible)

Method:
Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease a 13 x 9 inch metal baking pan and line with parchment paper. In a bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside. In another large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and foamy (triple volume). Beat in butter. Stir in orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture. Stir in cranberries and pistachios. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leaving oven on and let cool in pan on a rack for about 15 minutes.









Turn out onto a cutting board or parchment covered counter/table. Trim off the edges and cut dough into 24 pieces. Place cut side down on the baking sheets lined with parchment paper.









Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Turn off the oven but leave the biscotti in the oven for at least 1 hour or until very dry and crisp. (24 biscotti).

Back to Nature Oatmeal Cookies

If you're looking for a healthy 'back-to-nature' cookie -- look no further. This drop oatmeal cookie is easy to prepare, cooks in minutes (30 minutes from preparation to your mouth), is super healthy and tastes great!! You can't go wrong with this one -- a fan favourite of youngsters to geezers :)

Ingredients Required:

• 8 tablespoons heart-smart margarine
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (helps to balance the acid in the honey)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (sift to eliminate lumps)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups of porridge oats (the one with oat bran, wheat bran, flax seed)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/8 cup of milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup unsalted pistachios
• 1/2 cup raisins
  
• 1/2 cup craisins

This yields approximately three dozen cookies -- with a few left over for the baker :)

Steps to Prepare:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Use an electric mixer to cream your margarine, eggs, honey, milk, vanilla.
• In a large bowl hand mix all your dry ingredients (except of the nuts and fruit).
• Slowly add the liquid to the dry ingredients while stirring.
• Once all the liquid has been stirred into the dry ingredient you can fold in your pistachios, raisins and craisins.
• Use a small ice cream scoop (just larger than one tablespoon) to drop the cookie dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Space the cookies approximate three inches apart from each other.
• Place in oven and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Some ovens can have hot spots so you may wish to switch and rotate (180 degrees) your cookie sheets at the 8 minute mark.
• Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let sit for 2 minutes prior to removing the cookies to a cooling rack.
• Let cookies cool (30 minutes) before sealing in a container.

Enjoy!!