Holiday Biscotti

I am not a baker but this year for the holidays I decided to attempt to make biscotti for my coworkers gifts. At first, I was a little intimidated by the recipe and the whole baking process, but after reading over the recipe and the steps for Holiday Biscotti and Chocolate and anise seed biscotti I realized it was easier than I thought and I decided to give it a go. I thought the Holiday Biscotti with dried cranberries and pistachios would be fun and festive for Christmas presents and I chose to make a second batch (assuming all went well with the first) of the chocolate chip and anise seed for Lisa at work who is a picky eater and I knew she wouldn't like the cranberry pistachio combo. For some reason I could not find the recipe for the chocolate and anise seed on Food Network's recipe but I got it from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook Family Dinners. Basically, you can use the holiday biscotti recipe and replace the pistachios, cranberries and lemon zest with 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp. ground anise seed.

I began by combining the flour and baking powder in a large bowl and in a separate bowl I beat room temperature butter, sugar, and lemon zest with an electric mixer. After mixing the sugar, butter and lemon zest, I beat in the eggs (1 at a time) and then added the flour. Once all of the ingredients were combined to form a sticky dough, I added the cranberry's and pistachios (get it, red and green for the holidays!) and mixed it all together. Then I formed the dough in to a long, flat log on a lined baking sheet and baked at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.



Then you have to let it cool about 30-40 minutes and then you cut cookie into diagonal cuts and lay then cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for another 15 minutes. Once they are done, you just set the pieces on a rack to cool completely and you are all done! The great thing about biscotti is that as long as you keep them in an airtight container or ziplog bag they last a really long time. They turned out really well and I had fund making them, so much fun that I made 2 more batches the next evening and I plan on giving them to all my family for Christmas. I hope everyone has a great holiday season with lots of great food and great times!