Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti bring fall to your cookie jar. The season’s most popular flavor, pumpkin spice, pairs deliciously with sweet-tart bits of cranberry in this crunchy cookie.
Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti are my contribution to the 2017 Virtual Pumpkin Party, orchestrated by Sara at Cake Over Steak. There are about 100 bloggers participating in the party this year with all kinds of pumpkin recipes, both savory and sweet.
If you thought pumpkin was mainly used in pies and lattes, you will be amazed at the culinary creativity in the recipes presented. All pumpkin lovers should be sure to peruse the whole list. You can find links to all of the recipes on Sara’s Virtual Pumpkin Party page.
I am a biscotti enthusiast. Biscotti are, quite simply, the best care package cookie around. They ship well and generally stay fresh for ages.
Biscotti made with fruit jams or butters, like Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti or Fig Jam Biscotti stay fresh for up to 2 weeks. Drier biscotti, like Chocolate Espresso or Coconut, can stay fresh for a month.
Biscotti originated as an Italian cookie, traditionally baked twice to extreme crunchiness meant to withstand dunking in sweet wine. Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti are not as hard as traditional biscotti, though still crunchy, making dunking optional.
These biscotti are made with pumpkin butter, not pumpkin puree. Pumpkin butter is made by combining pumpkin puree, spices, and sweeteners and cooking to reduce the liquid and condense the flavor.
Pumpkin butter is responsible for the beautiful orange-golden color, spiced flavor, and crunchy texture of these Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti. You can buy pumpkin butter ready-made or easily make it yourself.
I very slightly adapted a pumpkin butter recipe from Tricia, at Saving Room for Dessert, to use in these biscotti.
Though I am prone to excessive biscotti decorating, pumpkin and cranberries make these biscotti so colorful on their own, I restrained myself.
A simple dip in melted white and dark chocolate gives the cookies an elegant finish and takes the taste up another notch.
With the temperatures dropping and fall in full swing, warming drinks with biscotti are an ideal snack. Bake a batch of Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti for your own cookie jar, for gift giving, or to add a bit of fall to your next care package.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup pumpkin butter purchased or homemade (See recipe below)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dried cranberries Craisins, chopped
- ½ cup about 75g white melting chocolate
- ½ cup about 75g dark melting chocolate
- FOR HOMEMADE PUMPKIN BUTTER OPTIONAL
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup unsweetened apple juice
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- FOR HOMEMADE PUMPKIN BUTTER:
- In a medium saucepan on medium heat, stir together all ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat to simmer. Use a pan lid to partially cover the pan to contain splatter. Cook until reduced by ½ for about 30 minutes.
- Stir frequently, especially toward the end of cooking to prevent the pumpkin butter from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
- Allow to cool before using in biscotti batter.
- WHEN READY TO BAKE:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin butter.
- Gradually add the flour and mix until smooth.
- Stir in dried cranberries.
- Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a 10" x 2 ½" log. The logs should be about 4” apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Move the logs onto a cutting board. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the logs crosswise into ½" to ¾" slices.
- Stand the sliced biscotti back on the baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them about 25-30 minutes more, until the edges are turning golden.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on wire racks.
- Melt the chocolate in a small bowl for 1 minute at 50%power. Stir. If not completely melted, return to the microwave and zap for 10 second intervals until melted.
- Line a baking sheet that fits in your refrigerator with wax paper. Dip the bottoms of the biscotti in the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Refrigerate the dipped biscotti for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature, layers separated with wax paper, for at least 2-3 weeks. The biscotti are most crisp the first week after baking.
Alisa says
These sound tasty and I’m thinking of making them this week. One question: you save to “stand” the biscotti after cutting them for the second bake. When I’ve made biscottis before, the recipe has instructed me to lay the biscotti slices on their side. When you say “stand”, I’m assuming that means put them back on their bottom edge. Is this correct??
The Monday Box says
Hi Alisa! There seem to be two approaches to the second bake for biscotti. As you said, some recipes call for laying the biscotti on one cut side, and often require flipping them over half-way through the baking time. All of my biscotti recipes stand the biscotti on their bottom edge(with the bottom of the cookie on the baking tray). No flipping is necessary and they crisp nicely. I first learned that method on the King Arthur blog and have stuck with it ever since! 🙂 Good luck with your biscotti baking!
Kippi says
Yum, I am making this delicious biscotti recipe. I lived in Italy and adore espresso and biscotti. Going to the grocery store today to get the ingredients. Happy Fall, Kippi
The Monday Box says
Thanks, Kippi! I have a LOT of biscotti recipes on The Monday Box both because I love them and because they are the world’s best care package/gifting cookie! These are in my list of top three favorites (Chocolate Espresso Biscotti and Cinnamon Chip Biscotti are my other two favorites 😉 )I hope you enjoy them!
April J Harris says
Your Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti have tons of seasonal fall flavour, Wendy, and they look so good! Thank you so much for sharing with the Hearth and Soul Link Party. I’m featuring this post at the party this week. Hope to ‘see’ you there! Have a great week ahead!
Miz Helen says
I love Biscotti, this looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great weekend and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Catherine Baez Sholl says
Oh my, these look so delicious! Pinned.
Miz Helen says
Congratulations!
Your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week and we have pinned it to our Features Board. Thanks so much for sharing with us and sure hope you enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen
Miz Helen says
Your Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti looks fantastic, we will just love it! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday! Have a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
The Monday Box says
Thanks, Miz Helen! I love this seasonal biscotti with a hot cup of tea! See you this week at Full Plate Thursday!
Erin says
Why is the dough sooo sticky? I could barely form the logs. What’s the secret??!! This is the second biscotti recipe I have tried that the dough has been practically impossible to form into logs ?
The Monday Box says
Erin, I am sorry you are having trouble. There is too much moisture in your dough. Did you use pumpkin butter? The origninal recipe on King Arthur Flour used pumpkin puree and the dough was way too sticky. I had to spread it with a spatula then use wet fingers to smooth it out. The purpose of using pumpkin butter, is that there is way less moisture and the dough should be very easy to form into logs. Not knowing what you used, my only other tip is that when ever you have a sticky dough, refrigerate it for an hour. If that isn’t enough, use moist hands or a spatula to form the logs.
Meg | Meg is Well says
I need these with my cup of coffee, they just look absolutely perfect!
The Monday Box says
Thanks, Meg! These biscotti and a cup of coffee are a great match!
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says
I am really into pumpkin everything this year! I have to make these – they look fantastic Wendy. Thanks for the link love!
Sara @ Cake Over Steak says
This biscotti looks delightful!! Thanks so much for participating :-*
The Monday Box says
Thank you, Sara, for all of your organizing skills that make the #virtualpumpkinparty a reality! So much pumpkin. So much fun!
Sarah | Well and Full says
I am positively DROOLING over these biscotti… and it’s very sweet for me because they remind me of my late grandpa. He was born from Italian immigrants, and he was so proud of his Italian heritage. One of his favorite things to do was have a cup of piping hot black coffee after dinner, and dunk a chocolate-covered biscotti in it. And now it’s my turn to carry on the tradition 🙂
The Monday Box says
Thank you, Sarah! I love that these biscotti bring your grandpa to mind. Food memories tied to loved ones are very special! Thank you for sharing your food memory!