Photo of Vanilla and Orange Biscotti with Pistachios by WW

Vanilla and Orange Biscotti with Pistachios

4
Points® value
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep
30 min
Cook
40 min
Serves
20
Difficulty
Easy
The secret to beautiful, crisp, light biscotti is to use your food processor, which will turn out a crumbly pastry dough. If you don’t have a food processor, just work the dough together quickly with your fingers. But now is the perfect time to invest in a food processor if you don't have one; you'll find yourself using it all the time—yes, even for baking. Also, make sure to cool the nuts completely before starting the recipe, as warm nuts will make the dough too soft to handle. Be sure to watch the biscotti toward the end of cooking. If they start to get dark, reduce your oven temperature and increase the cooking time a little bit.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour

1 cup(s)

Sugar

½ cup(s)

Table salt

1 pinch(es)

Baking powder

½ tsp(s)

Unsalted butter

3 tbsp(s), cold, cut into tiny pieces

Egg

1 large

Vanilla extract

1½ tsp(s)

Orange zest

4 tbsp(s), grated (from 2 large oranges)

Orange-flavoured liqueur

1 tbsp(s)

Unsalted dry roasted pistachio nuts

cup(s), lightly toasted, cooled, roughly chopped

Sugar

1 tbsp(s)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Place flour, ½ c sugar, salt and baking powder in bowl of a food processor; pulse briefly to blend. Add butter; pulse a few times until butter resembles small peas.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, vanilla, orange zest, orange liqueur and pistachios; add to food processor and pulse very briefly, just to blend. (Mixture should be moist but crumbly.)
  4. Turn dough out onto a flat surface; press dough together. Using your palm, press dough away from you once or twice; form dough into a ball. Cut dough in half; roll each section into a 1-inch-thick rope (if dough seems too sticky, dust hands with flour).
  5. Place ropes on prepared pan, a few inches apart and flatten tops slightly with your hands; sprinkle lightly with remaining 1 Tbsp sugar. Bake until golden, 30 minutes; remove pan from oven and let cool for 5 minutes (logs can break when slicing if they’re too hot).
  6. When logs are cool enough to remove from pan, transfer to a flat surface. Cut logs on an angle into 1/2-inch-thick slices, using quick, clean strokes with a sharp, nonserrated chef’s knife (avoid a sawing motion or your biscotti may break).
  7. Place biscotti, cut side up, on baking sheet; bake until lightly browned, 10 minutes. When biscotti are cool, store in a covered cookie box or a basket covered with a tea towel. They’ll keep for about a week.
  8. Serving size: 1 biscotti