I am a biscotti lover, there is no denying it. I like the fact that they are not overly sweet. I also like that they are great in the morning with coffee, in the afternoon as a little snack, and in the evening a simple dessert dipped in wine after a meal. Over the years I have created many flavor profiles. While biscotti are great served just plain, I like to decorate with a little chocolate, white, milk, semi-sweet, dark any chocolate is good. These pumpkin biscotti have a little white chocolate and toasted & salted pumpkin seeds. I like the added flavor and texture.
OATMEAL PUMPKIN SPICE BISCOTTI
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment
paper. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, oats, chopped
dates, salt, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice until completely
combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream
together the pumpkin and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at at time,
making sure the first one is completely incorporate before you add the
second one. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. In 1/2 cup
increments add the flour mixture to the wet mixture until all is incorporated,
or until you have a soft cookie-like dough.
With a large spoon place dough down on the parchment in two lines, you
will be making two logs. Get your hands wet and shape into two even logs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 22-26 minutes or until just firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Reduce oven temperature
to *300. Remove the biscotti to a cutting board and cut 1/2 inch slices out of
the logs. Lay out the biscotti slices, cut side down. Bake again for about 15
minutes or until they are no longer soft.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet
then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. I like to drizzle
with white chocolate. Biscotti are great for travel and store very well in an
air tight container.
If decorating with chocolate, place chocolate piece in a microwave safe bowl. Melt in 30 second increments stirring in between. I use a spoon and spread over the top half of the biscotti and sprinkle with a nut or a seed.