Happy Easter!
You might have been able to tell I have been on a baking kick these last few weeks. I am fairly certain it has a lot to do with my daughter and I binge watching the BBC’s The Great British Baking Show. What a great show with the too cute for words Mary Berry and the most handsome silver fox Paul Hollywood just their names make them stars and those accents. I am obsessed with British accents and how they speak so eloquently even when they are mad or make a mistake. I’m pretty sure if someone with a British accent were to tell me off for doing something I did wrong I would be totally OK with it. One of the most memorable phrases for me was in National Treasure 2 “Sir, please dismount the banister” it makes me smile every time. I’m smiling now while writing it.
Not sure if any of you see someone making something on TV or Online and think; I can do that! I can’t even tell you how many times I have done that, and I am proud to say that is one good thing I passed on to my kids. One of the challenges we watched they were to make biscotti. They could flavor them anyway they wanted; just that was pretty revolutionary for me; I’ve only ever had the almond flavored ones. I will admit that I’m not a big fan of almond extract so I never really ate them very much; I believe a little goes a long way and less is better for me.


Abbi and I decided we were going to try making Biscotti! We had everything on hand; except the almond extract; which I am sure we could have left it out but we wanted it to be a little familiar. Within the last week my daughter has made them twice; she brought some into work and the chef du cuisine paid her to make him a batch. Yeah they are that good! And since I wanted to blog about them I made them again last night so I could share it with all of you.  If you are a baker you have to make these; they are DELICIOUS and way easier than I thought they were going to be.
Ingredients
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract – you can use a little more if you want
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt – we omitted this because the pistachios were salted
¾ cup white baking chips
¾ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup pistachios

Directions
Preheat oven to 325’F
In a small bowl mixing bowl beat the sugar and oil till well blended, Add the eggs and extracts beat till blended. Combine the flour and powder and salt if you are using it. Gradually add to the sugar mixture.  Stir in the last 3 ingredients.
Divide the dough in half. On either parchment or your Silpat, with lightly floured hands; shape each half into a rectangle. Roughly 10” x 1½”  Bake for 30-35 minute or until lightly browned.
Place pan on a wire rack and when they are cool enough to handle, transfer to a cutting board; cut into ½ inch pieces. Place each piece back on the pan cut side down.
Bake for 6-7 minutes on each side until golden brown. Place them on the wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. You can also freeze them if you don’t end up eating them all.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home