Biscotti Bliss - Recipe #26

Immediately adjacent on the page to Snickerdoodle Biscotti, lies Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Biscotti, another new-to-me recipe. I gave Trent the choice of Pumpkin Cake, Beet Cake, brownies or biscotti. I breathed a sigh of relief when he chose the biscotti, since it required little effort. The recipe is similar to Snickerdoodle Biscotti, but the dough seemed a little more crumbly to me somehow. Maybe the extra ingredients sopped some of the moisture away from the flour.

I preferred this to the Snickerdoodle Biscotti - much as I love cinnamon, I am Team Chocolate all the way. As a bonus, I was able to finish up my bag of chocolate chips, as well as the last teaspoon of some almond extract purchased many years ago. I've been nibbling away at these at my desk at work along with my tea.

Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Biscotti

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 t. baking powder

1/8 t. salt

1 T. vegetable oil

1 t. almond extract

1 t. vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour (I'm assuming most people know how to measure out flour by spooning into measuring cups and leveling with a knife) and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture, stirring until well-blended (dough will still be dry and crumbly). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 7-8 times. Divide in half. Shape each portion into an 8-inch-long roll. Place rolls 6 inches apart on a baking sheet covered with a Silpat or cooking spray. Flatten each roll to 1-inch thickness.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove rolls from baking sheet. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cut each roll diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place the slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over, bake an additional 10 minutes. Cookies will be slightly soft in the middle but will harden as they cool. If you like things extra crispy, you can bake them a little longer.