Make This: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

I don't know what got into me - maybe it was guilt over my laid back stylings this holiday season - but I made biscotti. Made it, guys. And I was pleasantly surprised to note that (1.) it was not very difficult at all, (2.) it sounds difficult so everyone is most suitably impressed, and (3.) they taste even yummier than their purchased biscotti brethren.

I actually like these little cookies so much, I don't know if I'll even put them out at our Christmas party this year. Mwahaha. I might just snack on them them for the next several weeks with my coffee while I admire their festive red and green color scheme and cackle to myself.

I also learned that it takes forever to shell 1 1/2 cups of pistachios, and that you should hire the job out to enthusiastic small beings. 

These are made with olive oil instead of butter, and I love the flavor that brings to these cookies.

If you wore noise cancelling head phones to eliminate the noise of your bickering children, sipped your coffee and savored this little cookie, you could almost imagine you were on a vacation in Rome...

... with a handsome tour guide named Alessandro (or Paolo!), and a Vespa. And a fun little twirly skirt, and a camera, and a basket of fruits and cheeses... and I'm getting carried away.

Thank goodness no one reads this stuff, right? ;)

I went the extra mile after baking and drying my biscotti by melting some white chocolate chips with a dollop of shortening and dipping the bottoms of my cookies. Deeeelish. Too bad no one but me will ever see my handiwork, since I'm officially squirreling these babies away.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (from allrecipes.com)

1/4 cup light olive oil
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 1/2 cups pistachios, chopped

In a large bowl, mix oil and sugar. Add both vanilla and almond extracts, and then beat in the eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Stir in cranberries and pistachios.

Divide dough in half and form 2 logs around 2x12 on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Keep the logs thin as they will spread during cooking, and dip your hands into cool water to keep the dough from sticking (it's very sticky!)

Bake in a 300°F oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 275°F. After cooling, cut the logs into diagonal slices around 3/4" thick - you should get about 36 cookies. Return to the baking sheet cut side up and put back into the oven for 8-10 minutes to dry.

Sharing at Centsational Girl's Cookiepalooza Party