Pumpkin Biscotti

Yay more pumpkin! I've been hearing on some other blogs that there is a canned pumpkin shortage but that is certainly not the case here in Pittsburgh. For this pumpkin recipe I have two of my favorites, biscotti and white chocolate.


One important rule you need to remember is that the biscotti harden after a few minutes out of the oven. So, though they may seem too soft, there is still the opportunity for them to harden. The recipe made two logs and one turned out fantastic while the other fell short. The latter began really gooey after the first bake and that caused me to rebake them several time for short increments. Still gooey, but I cut them and baked on. In the end they seemed undercooked so I put them in longer. When I gave up and set them out, the hardened super fast and I was left with rock. Edible, but rock-like. The other batch, however, was much more successful and required only one return to the oven.


Once the biscotti cooled, I microwave melted some white chocolate and drizzled it over top. White chocolate hardens super fast as well and posed some minor problems in that respect.


Also, although the directions mention lowering the temperature at one point, iIforgot. That may have affected my results so I recommend you lower it like the recipe suggests.

I've only had one so far but they are really scrumptious, well at least the good batch is. The white chocolate adds a more complex but delightful taste. Oh, but the big issue I have with the taste is the pecans. They add a great texture and toasty taste, but there were WAYY too many. I would use half the 1 1/4 cup suggested. I also think cinnamon would have been a nice flavor to add and maybe even more pumpkin as well.


Pumpkin Biscotti
seen on My Baking Addiction

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/4 cup nuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Mixture will be very crumbly; it will gradually become moist after stirring.)

3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are browned. Remove from heat and cool completely.

4. Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 2 x 10" long log. Place logs 3" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 24 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

5. After some cooling, move a loaf to a cutting board and cut diagonally into 1/2" thick pieces. Do the same to the other loaf. The interior of each biscotto should still be just a little moist (while the exterior is nice and hard). The crust of the loaf will probably be quite hard, so use a large serrated knife such as a bread knife for this job.

6. Place the biscotti with a cut side facing up on a half sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other cut side is now facing up. Bake for another 7 minutes. Set all the pieces on a wire rack to cool making sure that none of the biscotti are touching each other. If the biscotti are placed too close together, they could get a little soft or soggy as they cool.

7. Once the biscotti have fully cooled, they can be consumed as is, or white chocolate dipped. I opted for a simple white chocolate drizzle. I just melted some white chocolate chips, placed the melted chocolate in a zip top bag, cut a small opening in one corner and drizzled it across the biscotti.

The biscotti tastes best during the first few days, but will keep for up to a month in a sealed air-tight container.