Recipe: Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Enjoy biscotti as much as I do? Tempted to make it (like me,) but dread the work or fear potentially disastrous results without knowing you have a surefire recipe? Look no further! Big Mill Bed & Breakfast owner/innkeeper Chloe Tuttle is sharing her best biscotti recipe with readers of Inn Cuisine.

Tuttle swears by the following recipe whenever she’s making homemade biscotti, and rest assured—whether you are a seasoned baker or novice cook, when this innkeeper says a recipe is good, she knows what she is talking about.

Between graduating from high school and returning to North Carolina to open Big Mill Bed & Breakfast on her family’s farmstead in the early 1990’s, Tuttle had a career many of us will only read about—she worked as a chef on a private sailboat for 7 years, routinely traveling from Maine to Guadeloupe and often sailing around the Islands of the Bahamas. It was during this time that the (now) innkeeper mastered the art of cooking for others, often under less than ideal circumstances.

“Growing up in the country, I learned how to grow my own food and invent recipes and make substitutions,” Tuttle tells Inn Cuisine. “This proved invaluable on the sailboat, especially when we were in the Out Islands, sometimes with no refrigeration. And while I have tried many other biscotti recipes, they were all way more complicated to make and not nearly as good as this original recipe.”

The innkeeper adds, “Biscotti is one of our trademarks here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast. In the winter, we are sure to serve anything with cranberries; but this recipe is so good, we serve biscotti all year long. Throughout spring, summer and fall you’ll see our guests sitting on their patios, gazing over the lakes, enjoying their morning coffee and biscotti. What a great way to start the day! And once you get the knack of making biscotti you can dazzle your family and friends. Plus biscotti [sealed airtight] will stay fresh for weeks.”

So, what do you say? Ready to give this homemade biscotti a whirl?

Recipe: Cranberry Almond Biscotti

(recipe courtesy Big Mill Bed & Breakfast)

• 2 & 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 & 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 3 medium Eggs
• plus 2 Egg Yolks (reserve the egg whites, if the mixture seems too dry, you can add them to moisten)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
• 1/2 cup dried, sweetened Cranberries (Craisins)
• 1 & 1/2 cups slivered Almonds (reserve 1/4 cup)
• zest of 1 Lemon (or 1 Lime if you prefer)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees for baking.

Assembly

Grease cookie sheet. Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. In another large bowl mix eggs and egg yolks together. Add vanilla and almond extract; dried, sweetened cranberries; 1¼ cup of the almonds and the zest to the eggs. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, stirring until just barely blended. (You may need to add the reserved egg whites, or a wee bit more flour and sugar is the mixture is too sticky to form in the following step.)

Sprinkle flour on your work surface or cutting board. Using greased hands (you may need a well-greased spatula as well,) form dough into three 4-inch by 9-inch rolls that are 2-inches thick. Place onto a large, well-greased cookie sheet, making sure the rolls are several inches apart. Press reserved almonds on top of the shaped dough.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the dough is no longer “doughy.” Remove from oven and cool slightly. (You must not cool the dough too much, because it will become too hard to cut). When cooled slightly, cut through each roll at an angle into 1 ½ inch pieces. Turn each piece on its side and place on the cookie sheet.

Bake again for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn each piece onto another side. Bake for 10 more minutes. If you prefer softer biscotti, omit the last 10 minutes of baking.

The biscotti will keep for several weeks if stored in an airtight container.

Yield: 36 to 40 Biscotti

Serving suggestions: Serve with morning or evening coffee–perfect for dunking. Biscotti is also great with afternoon tea.

Enjoy!

(Interested in learning more about innkeeper Chloe Tuttle and her support team at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast? Click here. Also, be sure to check out Chloe’s Blog, where you can discover even more information on Big Mill B&B and Chloe’s fantastic recipes!)

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