Holy October. Or mid-October. Or, Holy, I just ate an entire fun sized bag of Halloween candy-ober and now I am sick to my stomach-ober.
Wish the stomachache was fun-sized.
I am not sure I know what to say…and whatever I do say, I am going to sound like our mothers.
Soooo…
Well….
Holy October.
How much is too much Candy Corn? And hiding it in my car’s glove compartment for sugar attacks on my commute to and from work is totally normal right? I might have a problem with Halloween candy. Can I schedule my own intervention?
And well, to ease the pain of the months flying by …( I have heard an ugly rumor that Christmas supplies are able to be purchased at Kohls, wwwhhhaaattt?) aaannnddd to curve those sugar cravings like an adult…I made you some pumpkin pie biscotti…because what goes better with that warm cup of coffee than a cookie? A dunking cookie at that….
Nothing. That is the answer you were looking for. Nothing goes better with a cup of coffee than a cookie…well, perhaps a doughnut (donut?), but I don’t fry things ( it’s a toss up of being afraid of a large pan of hot oil and a dozen+ warm donuts (doughnuts?) in my kitchen, at my fingertips… in combo with very little self control) …so biscotti is what you are getting. And please don’t tell me about baked donuts (doughnuts?)…I have tried them and well, they aren’t the same. Perhaps it is a mind thing – I don’t doubt it, placebo would totally work on me, but I want my doughnuts (donut?) fried. It is a splurge anyways…so might as well go all out, yo.
But, hey…enough with the donuts (doughnut?) … I made biscotti. Totally not fried, but twice baked. Take that. Did you know that? Biscotti are twice baked. I bet you knew that. Y’all are no dummies… You probably also know that the origin of the word itself means twice baked/cooked. That second baking gets them nice and dunk-able…errr, crunchy. Errr…delicious.
The flavors of fall and a touch of pumpkin. All wrapped up in a cookie. These don’t have quite the ‘snap’ that traditional biscotti have, but I blame the pumpkin … It would make dirt moist and eatable. Man, I hate the word moist. And there I go saying it again. Even in my head, I don’t like the sound of the word.
And on a completely different note…Have you watched Derek on Netflix (a Netflix Original Series)? I think it might be one of the best shows I have seen in such a long time….such a great mix of heart warming comedy and heart breaking tragedy… I would highly recommend it …and if you aren’t a fan of Ricky Gervais, no worries…his role as Derek is so unlike anything I am personally familiar with him playing. Downside? Only 7 episodes. Upside? You can watch them all in one day …
- 1 + 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cup Firmly packed Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ginger
- 1/8 Teaspoon Clove
- 1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 3/4 Cup Coarsely Chopped Walnuts
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Place butter in small saucepan over medium heat and melt. Add chopped walnuts. Cook, stirring constantly until nuts are browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool while preparing biscotti dough.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla.
- With mixer on low (or by hand, but easier using a mixer) beat pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients. Dough will initially be crumbly but will eventually become a moist and form into a ball.
- Stir cooled walnuts into dough.
- Empty dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a log that is 2 inches wide and about 10 inches long. Place log on a parchment paper covered baking sheet (or lightly greased) and bake for about 24 to 27 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300F.
- When log has cooled enough to touch, transfer log to a cutting board, and using a sharp knife (bread knife is great for this) cut the log into 1/2 inch thick pieces on the diagonal. Place biscotti cut side down and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip the biscotti so the other side is facing up and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer biscotti to wire rack and let cool completely before enjoying.
adapted from Cooking In an Apron
Fork Vs Spoon 