Cranberry Almond Biscotti

These crisp little cookies are a mix of tart and sweet, and are delightful.

Great with coffee or tea or just by themselves, they also make a darling small gift. I think the shape makes them seem more special than regular round cookies.

This recipe makes about 10 biscotti, depending on how you slice them. I always eat the shorter end pieces as "quality control," so realistically this makes about 8 cookies.

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2 T. butter*
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. GF flour mix
1/2 c. almond flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. grown cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped fresh cranberries
2 T. slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar. It can be difficult to cream small amounts of butter and sugar. I use a hand mixer and a deep bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until everything is nicely mixed.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well with the hand mixer.

Stir in the cranberries and almonds.

The dough will be wet. Scrape/pour it on a greased cookie sheet (lined with foil to assist with cleanup). Shape the dough into a big oval. If it is sticky, it's helpful to wet the spatula with hot water and use it for spreading.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Let the biscotti cool for 10 minutes.

After cooling for 10 minutes, carefully cut the giant cookie into inch-thick strips at an angle and spread them out on the cookie sheet. Return the pan to the oven to bake for another 20 minutes.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool. They should be firm and crispy.

If they're still a little soft and cookie-like, you can enjoy them just the way they are, or stick them back into the oven.

The end pieces are usually fine, but the larger middle pieces might not be crispy enough. Flip them on their sides so the bottoms don't burn, and return them to the oven for another 10 minutes.

*Trying to avoid dairy, instead of butter I used the vegan "I can't believe it's not butter" and it worked well.