Honey Pistachio Biscotti

 

My husband frequently laughs at me, but I could spend an entire afternoon flitting around our backyard shooting photos of flowers, better yet, macro shots of the stamens of said flowers or even the sharp ruffled edges of a rose petal.  While he has always been supportive of my photography "habit" we do seem to have a few creative differences.

 

Geranium

Some 30 years ago my Dad gave me my first SLR, a film Nikon that I still have and will never part with.  I've spent more money than I care to know on film and developing and pushed my husband years later to the cutting edge of the digital era in order to keep a roof over our heads.  Buying me a Sony digital camera shortly after our son was born  had the camera shortly paying for itself as I gave up my film habit and entered the digital world with thousands of those must have photos of my adorable toddler.

Surprising me years later with a gorgeous Canon DSLR, my husband sent me further into the realms of exposure and aperture and I invested in a few inexpensive lenses to play with.  Fast forward a few years more and he upgraded my DSLR once again to my current Canon.  But until today I've never really had really "good glass".

Spider Lily

The Amazon Delivery Guy was at my doorstep early, and with trembling hands I soon held my new 60mm f/2.8 Macro glass.  While this is admittedly only a mid-level lens, it's the best I've personally ever owned and I'm pretty darn excited.  Without delay the pups and I mounted the lens and headed outside to test shoot a few of our blooming flowers.  A quick review on the LCD screen had me giddy, but loading the shots onto the computer for a full scale intense review had me positively intoxicated with glee!!

As luck would have it, Ellie Krieger's Honey Pistachio Biscotti was on my afternoon docket and my new lens and I got to work.  With the ingredients mixing together quickly, the pistachio filled "logs" were ready for the oven in no time.  Within less than a quarter of an hour the kitchen was filled with the heavenly aroma that comes with baking biscotti and we were soon slicing the logs into individual cookies.  A second trip to the oven had the Italian-bred cookies crisped and ready for tasting.

Whole wheat flour lends a slightly nutty flavor to these not so sweet biscotti while the pistachios bring an antioxidant punch that eased my guilt as I reached for thirds.  I can personally vouch that these crunchy little guys pair wonderfully with a glass of red wine.  Tomorrow I will do a taste test to check on their pairing with my morning coffee, though I can say without a doubt that the pairing will be just fine...

 

 

Honey Pistachio Biscotti

adapted from Ellie Krieger                             (Printer friendly recipe here)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 large eggs

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the baking powder and salt. In a large bowl beat together the sugar, honey, eggs, oil, zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract until well combined. In batches add the dry ingredients until the mixture forms a dough. Stir in pistachios. 

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead several times. Shape into a log about 10 inches long and 3 inches wide. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes. With a serrated knife, cut 1/2-inch diagonal slices. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake the biscotti until golden 5 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Note:  After slicing the biscotti I place them "standing up" onto the baking sheet, removing the need to "flip" the cookies after 10 minutes.  For my second bake I baked them for about 17 minutes "standing up". 

Hibiscus stamen