Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

The Geologist and I went to an Ugly Sweater party a few days ago. When we arrived bearing cookies (you always bring something to a party, right?) a friend asked, "What? No Biscotti??" Yup, I am the biscotti lady. But I was in the midst of experimenting with a cookie recipe (that will be shown later) so it was cookies this time. These pumpkin biscotti became a housewarming present for another friend. In the midst of all the cookie and biscotti baking (and tasting), I was reminded of a realization I had a few months ago...

I will never be skinny. 

I could, it is within my power. Through exercise and motivation with my awesome trainer, I'm in better shape than I have been since I was a teenager! I can DO things now! But there are two sides to the fitness coin: exercise and DIET. I refuse to diet. Eat healthier, sure! Have healthy meals, no problem! But then I bake biscotti. Or muffins, or scones... I can't give that up. I can't be the person at a Christmas party who only snacks from the veggie tray. I love my treats too much!! So who cares if I never fit into a size 6 again, or never have rock-hard abs. I make a mean biscotti! And biscotti makes me happy. :)

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti (adapted from Gimme Some Oven)
Printable Recipe

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 cup pumpkin puree, room temp
2 large eggs, room temp
1 Tb vanilla extract
2 Tb butter, melted and cooled till just warm

1 cup powdered sugar
4-6 Tb milk or cream (I like cream better, but you may need a few more Tb of it!)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl or stand mixer. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and the melted butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk till smooth. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, mixing till the dough starts to clump together (it will look very dry and crumbly at first, give it a few minutes)

Place dough on a lightly floured surface (or your parchment) and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into a 3 x 10 long log (or one big 6x16 log) Place logs 3-4 inches apart on lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is stiff when tapped. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

With a very sharp serrated knife (like a bread knife) slice each log into 1/2 inch wide pieces (This biscotti needs to be thin or the middle will never get stiff!) The interior of each piece should still be just a little moist with a hard exterior.

Place the biscotti, cut side facing up back on the cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes. Remove the pan and flip all the biscotti over so the other side is now facing up. Bake for another 7-10 minutes. Touch the middles: if they are barely soft, or completely stiff, they're done. If they're still pretty soft in the middle, return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, NOT touching! They will stiffen up a little bit more as they cool. Top with vanilla glaze or melted white chocolate. Store in air-tight container.

Vanilla Glaze

Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and 4 Tb of milk or cream. Add more milk/cream, 1 Tb at a time, until smooth and drizzle-able. Drizzle all over biscotti!

 This is my first batch of this recipe. It took 2 different recipes and three tries to get it right! One whole batch ended up in the garbage. Sad. The pumpkin in these babies makes them tricky! This batch was still a little soft in the middle, because I cut them too thick. Try not to go much bigger than 1/2 inch! They just don't taste right when the middle is soft.

 But I did finally nail it down, and the recipe is as you see it above. And they're scrumptious!! Not as heavily spiced as pumpkin bread, they'll definitely remind you of pumpkin pie!

Crunchy spiced pumpkin-ness topped with creamy, sweet vanilla icing, these are my second favorite biscotti ever! They're absolutely worth the extra bit of finicking.