Gluten Free Biscotti with Pistachio, Cranberry & White Chocolate
The perfect Italian cookie for a cup of coffee or a Christmas gathering!
Hello friends,
It’s time for holiday cookies!! The month of December is all about fabulous gluten free cookies and amazing gluten free brunchy food in my world. These are one of my favorites, a variation on a recipe first given to me by a friend who is a studio chef for a VERY famous Italian cooking show chef, mixed with the gluten free version I learned while at a cooking school in Tuscany this fall. I had the most wonderful instructors at the cooking school and one of them Fabrizio, owns a bakery in Tuscany near Pisa, and turns out the most delicious Italian baked goods. In class we made these same cookies with half gluten free flour mix and half chestnut flour, they were DIVINE. Chestnut flour is a bit harder to come by around here, but should you run into a bag, just know that substituting half of the flour in this recipe is a fantastic idea.
These cookies keep really well at room temperature, and make fantastic gifts. Wrap them with a little bow, you’ll recipients will be thrilled to enjoy these with a cup of coffee, hot cocoa, or as is done in Italy, Vin Santo.
The white chocolate, cranberries and pistachios - did you know Italians say “PIS-TACK-EE-O?” - are not traditional, but gilding the lily is a holiday tradition. Feel free to use another dried fruit or nut if you’d rather. Remember, you’ll need to temper the white chocolate unless it’s specifically formulated to be “dipping chocolate.” Both types are readily available at the grocery store this time of year, if you are dairy free, substitute dark dairy free chocolate.
By the way… did you happen to see the article in the Kitchn about my family and our gluten free food budget?
Gluten free baking tools and ingredient list: I get asked ALL THE TIME for suggestions for gifts for the gluten free cook or baker in your life, so I put together a list on my website - these are things that have really helped me over the years, and are tried and true! I’ll keep adding to the list so refer back to it again.
Happy Baking,
Rachel
Gluten Free Biscotti with White Chocolate, Cranberries and Pistachios
Yield: 40
4 eggs
1 1/3 (266g) cups sugar
3 cups (420g) one to one gluten free flour blend such as king arthur measure for measure, bobs red mill 1 to 1 gluten free flour or gluten free pastry flour (recipe follows)
1 tsp(4g) baking powder
½ tsp (3g) kosher salt
1 Tb orange zest
4 oz whole almonds or whole blanched almonds
6 oz white chocolate (chopped) - for dairy free use dairy free dark chocolate
3 oz dried cranberries
3 oz pistachios (chopped)
Beat the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest until it is a light, lemony fluffy mixture. Combine the remaining dry ingredients, except the almonds. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg batter. When well mixed, add the nuts, and combine.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Wet your hands and form into 2 long ropes on the cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes until just set. Remove from the oven and cool 10 minutes. Using a sharp knife slice the loaf into ¼ inch slices and lay on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake again 17-20 minutes until toasted.
Cool completely on the sheet pan. Once cool, melt the white chocolate and chop the nuts. Dip each cooled cookie into the chocolate covering ½ the cookie. Sprinkle with nuts and cranberries and put back on lined sheet pan. Once the chocolate is set, and cool move the cookies to an airtight container. Serve with espresso, tea, or fortified wine.
This flour is the perfect mix for the cookies, cakes, muffins, and quick breads in your life. It’s light and feathery and gives you a light melting mouthfeel. Different brands of the ingredient flours have different grinds. Finer flours might pack into the cup – while courser flours won’t fit nearly as much in a cup, so weighing your ingredients will give you MUCH better results! On a simple scale put a medium to large bowl, shake or spoon on the flours and hit that “Zero” or “tare” button after each one. Voila! Cleanup is nearly nonexistent, and you’ve got a much more reliable flour! Note- this flour is not meant to be used in yeast-based recipes, breads and cinnamon rolls need a bit more strength and not as much tenderness. For more information on gluten free flours, please see my in depth explanation here.
Gluten Free Pastry Flour Mix
yield: 8 cups (1,177g)
2 cup (260g) sweet white rice flour (mochi flour or mochiko)
2 cup (256g) fine brown rice flour
2 cup (380g) potato starch
1 cup (118g) sorghum flour
1 cup (160g) tapioca flour
4 tsp (3g) xanthan gum
Scoop all ingredients into a large bowl and whisk well to combine. Store in an airtight container.