Biscotti al Pistacchio (or Almond)

 

My husband signed me up for a WSJ online cooking class on a Monday night with chef Mona Talbott, author of the cookbook Biscotti: recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome. This was a very easy recipe with just a few ingredients needed so easy to throw together on a week night. I did not have a lot of pistachios on hand, so I used almond flour instead. I also halved the recipe but grated at least half of a lemon. I used about 2 eggs to get 2 oz of egg white. When it came time to bake, I rolled it into a ball and then flattened the dough; rolled it in sugar; and then put a pistachio on top. I baked them for 12 min.

Biscotti al Pistacchio Recipe - 101 Cookbooks (~by Mona Talbott, author of the cookbook Biscotti: recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome)

Yield: Makes 45-50 cookies

Ingredients

• 4 1/3 cups / 500 g raw pistachios plus 50 whole raw pistachios for garnishing (used almond flour)
• 1 cup / 200 g granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Grated zest of half of lemon (approximately 1 ½ tablespoons)
• 3 ½ ounces egg whites (from about 3 ½ eggs)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, for coating cookies

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C.
2. Pulse the pistachios in a food processor with 1/2 cup / 100 g of the granulated sugar until the nuts are finely chopped. (Heidi note: I pulsed the nuts until they were the texture of chunky, gravelly sand / lightly pebbled.)
3. Combine the ground pistachio-sugar mixture with the honey, vanilla, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the egg white, mixing until the dough is well combined and soft. At this point, add the rest of the granulated sugar and mix gently.
4. Form the dough into small balls, 16 g / 12 oz, and roll them in the confectioners' sugar to coat well. Transfer the balls to cookies sheets lined with parchment paper, leaving at least an inch between each cookie.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes (baked 12 min), until the edges of each cookie are golden.

These cookies can be stores in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 50 cookies.

Slightly adapted from the Biscotti al Pistacchio recipe in - Biscotti: Recipes from the Kitchen of The American Academy in Rome, The Rome Sustainable Food Project.

- COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES