Cranberry Dark Chocolate Biscotti

Before I hand over this biscotti recipe I thought I would mention that I was approached again by CSN Stores. If you remember from my previous post about them, they really are great. They have all sorts of gifts that would be great for the holidays. I loved my baking sheets and still use them all the time. They also have other great, non-cooking products. They have a really nice laptop messenger bag that I have my eye on. Keep your eye out for another product review.

Back to the food. One of my favorite blogs that I read on a regular basis is Basil & Wine. The food always looks amazing and it inspires me to try to eat more healthfully. A few weeks ago a recipe from cranberry white chocolate biscotti appeared. I had never made biscotti before, and it's possible I had never really eaten biscotti either, but I just couldn't get the recipe out of my head. I made a few adjustments for my own taste preferences and ingredients I had in the pantry. Also, I feel that the original author's suggestion and baking while listening to Christmas music is a key element to the success of your biscotti.

Cranberry Dark Chocolate Biscotti:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons flax, 6 tablespoons water)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1-2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/3 dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine cranberries and orange juice, then set aside. In a large bowl combine the flours and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk the flax eggs and sugar, about 2-3 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Add zest, vanilla, and almond extracts to the wet mixture. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add cranberries and mix into a dough. Form the dough into a 9x2 log, place on a greased baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). Bake for 25 minutes, then cool for at least 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 325. Slice the long into 1/2 inch slices. Bake for 10 minutes on each side. Melt chocolate over a double boiler. When the biscotti have cooled, drizzle with the chocolate. Place the chocolate drizzled biscotti in the fridge until the chocolate hardens. Serve with a cup of coffee; dipping is highly encouraged!