In honor of going back to my high school to see some of my awesome past teachers, I had to make some goodies! So last night I whipped up some pumpkin pie biscotti! 

Here’s the original recipe.

4 oz Butter (softened)

5 oz Sugar

.5 oz Lemon Zest

6 oz Eggs

2 oz Vanilla

1 lb Pastry Flour

.5 oz Baking Powder

.12 oz Salt (or 3.5 grams)

4 oz Hazelnuts (chopped)

HOWEVER, I changed it a bit. First of all, I used half the recipe. On top of that, I added about 1 cup of Pumpkin Pie filling as well as various spices that go with pumpkin pie (Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger and nutmeg – all  to taste). Then, to help the consistency come back from the extra liquid, I added another 2 – 3 ounces of flour. Some of the other changes I made were splitting the flour between the regular flour and whole wheat flour, splitting the sugar between regular sugar and brown sugar and adding roasted pumpkin seeds, chopped almonds, chopped pecans and oats (about a handful or so of each – it’s totally up to you). Lastly, I threw some wheat germ and flax seed into the mix as well. All of this added extra nutty and earthy tones to the biscotti as well as adding in some more healthiness. 

To begin the biscotti, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Then, beat in the liquids in several stages, making sure each addition is mixed in completely before you add more. 

After that, sift all of the dry ingredients (except the nuts and whatnot) into the mixture. Beat until JUST incorporated – you don’t want to form too much gluten. After that fold in all your extra garnishes – the nuts, oats etc. 

Once you have folded everything in, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Split the dough in half so it’s in more manageable pieces. Roll each piece into a 1 inch diameter log and place on parchment lined sheet pan. Once each log is on the sheet pan, you want to press the log down lightly with the palm of your hand so that it’s about 2 inches in width. 

Before you throw it into the preheated 350 F oven for 20 minutes, brush some egg wash on the logs – very thoroughly. (Make an easy egg wash with 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and some salt). 

Bake once. Use the spring test to make sure they are cooked all the way, and you want little color. 

Let it cool completely. Once cooled, using a serrated knife slice it into 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick pieces, on the bias (it looks better!). Place the pieces standing up, with 1/2 – 1 inch of space between each piece and bake them in the oven again until they are crisp and colored. 

For the second bake, I did 20 minutes at 350F then turned the oven down to 275F and baked for another 20 – 30 minutes. Bake them until they are crisp to your liking and colored to your liking. Remove from oven, let them cool and enjoy thoroughly!

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