Birthday Biscotti Revisited

Two years ago this Tuesday, I posted a recipe for my favorite chocolate almond biscotti which were being shipped across the country as a birthday surprise. I dropped another batch of birthday biscotti at the post office this morning, with two new (and delicious) surprises.

1. The original recipe includes chopped almonds in the batter and sliced almonds on top. I swapped both for pistachios, my favorite for taste and color.

2. I used a vanilla salt that I made during the holidays, inspired by Joy the Baker's recipe (which I've included below).

Start with the original recipe, swapping whatever nuts and salts you choose.

December Baking

December is a busy month in the kitchen. Between Christmas cookies and homemade gifts, my sink is always full of measuring cups, spatulas, and cookie sheets. Short, dark, cold days left me yearning for the tastes of summer at the beginning of the month. I broke into my frozen blueberry stash from July to make a batch of orange blueberry poppy seed muffins on December 8th. 

These muffins are a twist on Joy the Baker's lemon blueberry poppy seed muffins. I swapped the whole milk in Joy's recipe for soy and the lemon zest for orange. These muffins are moist and full of blueberries. If your blueberries are frozen to start, toss them with 1-2 tablespoons of flour in a bowl. This will help prevent your batter from turning blue.

When you begin to sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffin cups, you will be hesitant to use all the topping. Don't stop sprinkling! I was hesitant too, but I was so very happy I used it all.

Dark Chocolate Chip, Pistachio, and Smoked Salt Cookies

I love adding pistachios to cookie recipes (as in these Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio gems), so I bookmarked Joy the Baker's recipe for dark chocolate, pistachio and smoked salt cookies as soon as I saw it. But what the heck is smoked salt and where was I going to find it?

The recipe sat for a few weeks as I waited for an excuse to bake these cookies, or stumbled upon smoke salt (whichever came first). I was stopping in Whole Foods to pick up some treats for an impromptu dinner with friends, and somehow remembered my need for smoke salt. I tried the baking aisle first, where two gentlemen who worked at the store looked at me confused and asked, "What are you trying to make?" Luckily, one of them thought to radio the man at the specialty foods/cheese counter, who happened to be standing behind a huge glass jar filled with a smoky brown salt. Within minutes I found myself in a circle with these three workers, all sniffing the campfire worthy scent of their smoked salt.

Needless to say, once I had the salt I didn't need an excuse to bake. These cookies are as easy to whip up as any other chocolate chip cookie recipe and I was delighted at their thinness and chewy texture (if you want to hear me talk more on that, check out my classic chocolate chippers).

A smoked, nutty, and chocolately cookie - how can we make it any better, you ask? How about using some homemade vanilla extract. Yes, be jealous, and then make your own. Luckily, the man in my life has a stash of these perfect bottles in his kitchen and I get dibs.

Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

I turned my granola into a cookie with this recipe. If you like my granola, you will like this cookie. 

 

This is my favorite version of the traditional oatmeal raisin. Swapping cranberries for raisins adds more sweetness and a pop of color. A big handful of pistachios adds a hint of unexpected nuttiness and some health. But really, these cookies are good for three reasons: granulated sugar, brown sugar, and most importantly, maple syrup. It smells like breakfast when you take these puppies out of the oven.