Meyer Lemon Cranberry Biscotti

Last year’s winter was one of the harshest winters we’ve had in years. I was so used to having hardy plants that could survive the winter, but sadly, we had to redo most of our garden. We also lost our meyer lemon tree, which was just starting to produce more than 5 lemons/year. 🙁

So, last spring, we replaced our plants and lemon tree, and we even added a satsuma tree to the collection. This year, we were surprised to get about 10 lemons! I guess it’s a happy tree. 🙂 I’m slowly but surely learning how to NOT kill anything that we plant. 🙂

So, of course with all of these lemons, I had to bake something with them for the holidays. While lemon flavor isn’t typical of holiday baked goodies, I mixed in dried cranberries and arranged them in a wreath type of display to make things more festive.

This biscotti isn’t overwhelming as far as lemon flavor goes. Since it’s not too heavy of a lemon flavor, it goes really well with the dried cranberries, and the extra drizzle of white chocolate doesn’t hurt either. This really isn’t that difficult to make either. While biscotti looks a bit intimidating, it’s simply cookies that are baked twice, until dry in the oven.

Meyer Lemon Cranberry Biscotti
Source: a Nifty Foodie original

Ingredients:

• 1.5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp. light olive oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. meyer lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. meyer lemon zest
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 8 oz. white chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp. canola oil
• Sprinkles and pearl dust (food safe) spray, for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, butter and sugar until well-blended. Mix in the lemon juice and vanilla extract, and then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, zest and baking powder in another medium sized bowl; gradually stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Mix in cranberries by hand, until a dough forms.
3. Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12×2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. If the dough seems sticky, wet your hands with warm water to work with the dough more easily.
4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
5. Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.
6. Form into a wreath or tree on a cake plate, using melted white chocolate as a sort of glue to hold the biscotti in place. When done, drizzle the remaining white chocolate on top of the wreath. For a finishing touch, add large sprinkles and pearl dust.