Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti

Apricots are an ingredient that I don’t always have on hand, but right now I have a small quantity that I don’t want to go to waste. Mine are already chopped, so that can be limiting, as some recipes call for whole dried apricots and others want them to be chopped. This recipe for biscotti uses a small quantity of chopped dried apricots, and biscotti are usually quick to put together.

The method for assembling biscotti can be different. Since it is a dry cookie, it doesn’t rely on creaming the butter and sugar then adding the flour. You could likely mix them that way and they would still turn out, but this has you add the dry ingredients and mix-ins and then add the eggs and orange juice. I’m not at all a baker who follows fussy recipes, and I follow the given recipe, but I also feel that my baking instincts are pretty strong.

This is a slightly smaller recipe and you make one log of dough instead of two, which is good. It can be hard to shape two pieces of dough into the same size, so you don’t have to worry about that. I roughly follow the size guidelines, but shaping them differently will just need slightly different baking times. I tend to like biscotti that isn’t so dry, so I tend to bake mine a little less, but it purely depends on your taste. My not-quite-so-dry biscotti

Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup of pistachios, roughly chopped
½ cup dried apricots, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
Juice and zest of half an orange
Additional flour

Heat the oven to 320 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder and mix on low. Add the chopped pistachios and apricots and stir on low to incorporate. Add the beaten eggs, orange zest and juice and mix until the dough comes together. The dough will be sticky.

Shape the dough into a log about 4 inches wide and 12 inches long. You may need to use additional flour to successfully shape the dough.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until set and a golden crust starts to form. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the biscotti to cool, about 30 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Transfer the biscotti to a cutting board and cut into pieces about ½” thick. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the biscotti over and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The cookies will be dry. Cool the biscotti completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Finding Time for Cooking