Apricot Pistachio Biscotti Recipes

APRICOT-PISTACHIO BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed, using paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and beat on medium until coarse crumbs form. With mixer on low, add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition; mix in apricots, pistachios, and fennel seeds. Continue to mix until dough forms a ball, about 1 minute.
• On a parchment-lined baking sheet, shape dough into two 2-by-12-inch logs. Bake until dry and set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. Transfer to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut logs on the diagonal into 1/4-inch slices. Bake on parchment-lined sheets until golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on sheets on racks. (Store in airtight containers, up to 1 week.)

PISTACHIO BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Lay the pistachios on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes or until the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from the oven.
• In an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, gradually add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla; mix until creamed. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dough until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the pistachios until evenly distributed.
• Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Roll each half into a log, each 12 inches long by 1-inch high. Place the logs on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly brown. Let the logs cool for 5 minutes and then place on a cutting board. Slice each log on a diagonal into 12 1-inch thick pieces. Put the cookies back on the cookie sheet and bake 5 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake the other side for another 5 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container.

APRICOT/PISTACHIO BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Mix together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy then beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Add apricots and nuts. The batter will be VERY thick - I usually mix by hand at the end. Separately beat 2 egg whites with 2 T. sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into dough 1/3 at a time until fully incorporated Preheat oven to 375. Shape dough into two 12" logs (5" wide squared off on ends) on parchment lined cookie sheet. The dough is very sticky - you can flour your hands to help form logs. Bake for 20 min. and then let cool 20 min. Slice into 3/8" slices. This is difficult as the dough has a crust and the insides are mushy. I slice and then lift with the edge of the knife to turn on their sides in single layer on cookie sheet (using a serrated knife helps). Lower oven temp to 250 and bake 20 minutes, turn over and bake another 20 min. To make them nice and crispy, I turned the oven off and left them in the oven overnight...I've also just left them in the oven for a couple of hours after baking.

APRICOT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Chop the apricots.
• Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl, beat 3 eggs, orange zest, and vanilla with an electric mixer until just combined. Stir in the flour mixture and beat until a stiff dough is formed.
• Fold in apricots.
• In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg with the water. Form the dough into 2 logs, about 12 inches long each. Place on a greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Brush with egg wash.
• Bake at 350 degress for 40-50 minutes, until golden. Allow the logs to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
• With a serrated knife, cut the baked logs diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices (cut side down) on the baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes more, until golden Cool on a wire rack. After cool, keep fresh in an airtight container.

ALMOND APRICOT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add whole egg, milk, and extracts, stirring with a fork until a soft dough forms, then knead in almonds.
• Divide dough between 2 sheets of wax paper, then form into 2 equal mounds and flatten each mound into a 5-inch disk. Put half of apricots in center of 1 disk and fold dough over apricots to enclose them (use wax paper as an aid if necessary), then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Form into a 14- by 2 1/2-inch log lengthwise on 1 side of baking sheet, spreading dough with wet hands. Make another log with remaining dough and apricots, arranging it about 4 inches from first log.
• Brush logs with egg wash and bake in middle of oven until pale golden and firm, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack 20 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 300°F while logs cool.
• Carefully transfer baked logs to a cutting board using 2 wide metal spatulas, then cut logs diagonally into 1/2-inch-wide slices with a large heavy knife.
• Line baking sheet with a clean sheet of parchment. Stand slices, curved sides up, 1/2 inch apart on baking sheet and bake in upper third of oven until biscotti are dry, about 30 minutes (they will become hard as they cool). Transfer biscotti to rack to cool.

APRICOT TART WITH PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lay 1 sheet phyllo on a parchment-lined 12-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon butter and brush to coat the entire phyllo sheet.
• Top with another sheet and butter as above. Repeat with 7 more sheets, for a total of 9, buttering as you go. The final, top layer should also be buttered. (The rest of the phyllo can be wrapped and frozen for future use.)
• Dot the top sheet with jam by the teaspoon, then, using a spatula, spread the jam to cover the entire sheet, leaving a 2-inch border.
• Sprinkle a layer of half the chopped pistachios over the jam. Place the apricot wedges, skin-side down, in even rows across the surface, then sprinkle again with remaining pistachios.
• Carefully fold over the edges on all sides of the tart to make a 10-by-16-inch rectangle. Brush folded sides with butter. Sprinkle sugar generously over apricots and folded edges.
• Bake until pastry is golden and apricots begin to color, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes, then cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

APRICOT BISCOTTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool slightly. Place nuts in a dishtowel and rub together to remove some of the skin. Coarsely chop and set aside.
• Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until soft and creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add lemon rind and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat well.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir to blend. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating on low until a smooth dough forms. Stir in hazelnuts and apricots.
• Divide dough in half. With lightly floured hands, form dough into two 10 x 2-inch logs. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart. Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet 15 minutes. Transfer logs to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut straight down through the log to make 1-inch-thick slices; discard end pieces. Arrange on a baking sheet.
• Bake 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn biscotti over and continue baking until lightly browned on the other side, about 9 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets before serving or storing. The biscotti store well for one week and freeze well. Makes about 20.