Almond-Cranberry Biscotti (Eggless Recipe)

For this month's Home Baker's Challenge, Priya Suresh @ Priya's Versatile Recipes wanted us to bake some crispy & crunchy Biscottis. She gave us options to bake either savory or sweet biscottis. Since I have a housefull of sweet toothed people, I made the sweet biscotti. 

I have been planning to bake biscotti for a while now, but didn't get a chance to try them. I was excited when I saw Priya's picks for this month and I wanted to bake both sweet and savory biscottis, but couldn't find time to make the savory one. I'm glad that I was able to make the sweet version that was liked by all at home. Hopefully I'll make the savory ones too some time soon.

The biscotti I made is a variation to the American Style Vanilla Biscotti that Priya wanted us to bake. Biscottis are Italian cookies that are twice baked. Italian biscottis are hard, but these American style biscottis are light and crunchy.

I made the original recipe eggless by using egg replacer and also added almonds and cranberries along with some fiori di sicilia extract. This extract is a combination of citrus and vanilla with a pleasingly floral aroma. It almost feels like holiday season tasting these biscottis.

Ingredients:

Butter - 6tbsp, at room temperature

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Salt - ½tsp
Vanilla extract - 1tsp
Fiori di Sicilia - 1tsp

Baking Powder - 1½tsp
Egg replacer - 2tbsp whisked in 6tbsp of water (or use 2 large eggs)

All purpose flour - 2cups
Sliced Almonds - ½cup
Dried cranberries - ½cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
• In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, salt, extracts and baking powder using a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg replacer mixture (or the eggs, one at a time) and beat until completely combined.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the flour slowly and stir until smooth. Add the almonds and cranberries and mix until incorporated.
• Plop the dough onto the baking sheet and divide it into 2 equals parts. 
• Wet your fingers and smooth the dough out into approximately 14"x2½"x¾" rectangle. It doesn't have to be this exact.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. By this time, the dough will start browning around the edges and slightly firm to touch.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-25 minutes.
• When ready for the second bake, fill a spray bottle with room temperature water and spritz the baked logs evenly with the water. This will keep the dough from crumbling when cutting.
• Using a very sharp serrated knife, cut the log into ½" - ¾" wide cookies. Make sure to cut the log up and down perpendicular to the pan and cut evenly so that the biscotti don't topple when baking.
• Set the biscotti on the edge on the baking sheet. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the biscottis feel very dry and starting to turn golden. Remove onto a wire rack and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container where they stay good for weeks.