Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

I can't help but think of my father whenever I see or eat pistachios. My father can easily polish off an entire bag of them. He'll sit in front of the TV late at night when everyone else is in bed with a dish towel in front of him and he would begin cracking away at each individual shell one by one. And every morning I was sure to find a nice little happy trail of shells leading to the garbage can as well as a few left over on the rug where he sat. What a mess!
I have since gotten married and moved out. And as much as I complained then, having to clean up that mess, I sure do miss being at home with him. His love of the pistachio has rubbed off on me and now my husband. So when I looked in my pantry one day and saw this HUGE bag sitting in front of me, I knew I had to do something about it! I grew tired of eating just a plain pistachio and wanted something "close to home." Being from an Italian family, we always had biscotti around the house so when I saw this recipe on epicurious.com I knew it was the perfect solution. I tweeked the original recipe a bit. And i'm very happy with the results. I cut down both amounts of pistachios and cranberries, omitted the aniseed and added a bit more lemon peel. I was able to satisfy my craving and send the rest home to dad! Enjoy!

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients:

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1/2 cup shelled natural unsalted pistachios

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 1 large baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl to blend well. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in lemon peel & vanilla. Beat in flour mixture just until blended. Stir in cranberries and pistachios (dough will be sticky). Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into 15-inch-long log (about 1 1/4 inches wide). Carefully transfer logs to 1 prepared baking sheet, spacing 3 inches apart.
Bake logs until almost firm to touch but still pale, about 30-32 minutes. Cool logs on baking sheet 10 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Carefully transfer logs still on parchment to cutting board. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, cut logs crosswise into generous 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place slices, 1 cut side down, on remaining 2 prepared sheets. Bake until firm and pale golden, about 9 minutes per side. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.