Baked Goodies

Pistachio Cardamom Biscotti



Last week during the cookie episode at Ultimate Recipe Showdown on Food Network, one contestant dared the judges by making a Persian pistachio-cardamom thins and stating that its time cookies are seen differently. I couldn't help but applaud her confidence. Now after making the traditional perfect chocolate chip cookie, I thought to try this one out. And it just made so much sense because it fitted my event "Drive me nuts" theme perfectly. And after reading little more about pistachios, I came to know a little more about these lovely nuts - they deliver 30 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients from copper, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and B6. A perfect harmony of nutrition, taste and texture it seemed. 


But then when I saw the ingredient listing 6 egg whites, I was not so sure, because I prefer using eggs whole as far as possible because that avoids any wastage. So I got searching with a packet of pistachio already bought, for another recipe. And chanced upon this recipe, which made me try my first Biscotti. As per Wikipedia, "biscotti are a twice-baked cake originating in the Italian city of Prato. The cakes are large almond biscuits, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still hot and fresh from baking in the oven. Hmm that sounds interesting. And the pictures reassured me not to expect anything dainty but a rough, crunchy cookie."










Having decided upon the recipe, the only thing I had to adjust slightly was the baking time because first time I was roasting the pistachios as per the given instructions, it got burnt. So I became more vigilant and reduced the baking time. Nevertheless today being Tuesday and this being a replica of Bookmarked recipe, it goes as my entry to US Masala's bookmarked-recipes-every-tuesday.


Pistacho Cardamom Biscotti Recipe
Recipe Source: Journey Kitchen


Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)

3/4 cup pistachios (without skin)

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt


Method:
  • Preheat oven at 350F, while you measure & set aside the ingredients

  • Place the pistachios in the baking tray. And bake them for 5-6 mins. If using skinned ones, increase the time by 2 mins and then rub with kitchen napkin to remove the skin. I was too scared to do any further. But if you feel your oven has not done justice, please increase the time by few minutes. Set them aside to cool down

  • Mix flour, baking powder, salt & cardamom powder in a bowl & keep aside

  • In another large bowl beat butter till light and fluffy. Now add eggs, sugar and vanilla essence and beat till creamy

  • Add the dry ingredients and ensure its all incorporated. then mix in the pistachios

  • Now transfer the dough to work station and knead slightly with hands, so that it all comes together nicely 

  • Roll it into a long log of an inch thickness. You can even make two logs if it gets tough to handle

  • Place the log on the baking tray and bake for 25-30 mins. After 20 mins, I flipped the logs to get the crunch on top as well

  • Now take out the logs and with very sharp knife, cut them into slightly thick slices. They would be little flaky so take care that the knife is sharp and you get proper slices

  • Now place on the cut side (horizontally) in the oven for another 5 minutes (I didn't want to lose the softness completely because it would be  eaten by my toddler son, so I reduced the baking time) Else you can do it upto 7 mins and also on the other side. This part is as per your liking of level of crunch. Suggest when you take the log out, you take a bite and see how much more crunch you want. 

  • Your biscotti is ready. Simply store them in air tight container

Taste Melanger

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