Thanksgiving Menu Ideas: Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

Basic Recipe:

1/2 cup butter (use real butter--it is worth it)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (use the real stuff)
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of clove (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or if your butter is salted-just a pinch)
1 cup of almonds or pecans if you like your treats sweeter, toasted and chopped
4 oz of white chocolate, either chopped or in chips

(After you have made this recipe once, you can adjust the spices to taste)

A note about the nuts: I like to buy the nuts raw and then toast them in my oven. I toast them at 350 between 6 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the nuts. I think they taste better and they are healthier than roasted nuts. Do not use salted nuts.

Directions:

Toast your nuts first. They should be cool before you mix them in. Depending on your preference, you can chop them in your food processor or by hand or leave them whole.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and liqueur and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well blended. Fold in nuts.

Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Create a loaf (in a baquette or hot dog shape) on the parchment paper.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven between 25 and 40 minutes. In my old oven it took 25. In my new one it takes at least 35. The surface of the loaf should be lightly browned when you take it out. Let cool for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Slice crossways to create individual biscotti. Stand the biscotti up on the bottom edge (as if they were still in the loaf) with some space between them. Then bake again at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool. If you like them drier or harder bake longer the second time.

Let the biscotti cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. When melting chocolate, do not overcook. It is better to undercook, then heat a little more until it just starts to melt. Then the chocolate will heat through and be the perfect temperature.

Drizzle the cooled biscotti with the white chocolate. Cool and serve.