This and that: Pumpkin Chai Biscotti ~ #fillthecookiejar

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Pumpkin Chai Biscotti ~ #fillthecookiejar



It is time to Fill the Cookie Jar again.  Mine is getting down to the bottom, so it worked out perfect.  This  month's theme is Thanksgiving.  When I think of Thanksgiving, it is a time of being thankful... Can I be thankful that we don't have snow yet... Well I am, there is snow all around us but thankfully we have only received a small dusting but I do know that there is more to come.  Even though I am thankful that we don't have any snow, I am thankful of the season and the nature that is given to us.. the splendid colours of the fall with the dusting of snow.. Beautiful.

But .... I am getting a bit sidetracked as the snow and the seasons have nothing to do with cookies and I need to Fill the Cookie Jar.  This group was started by Cynthia from Feeding Big .  Each month we are given a theme and we can decide to accept this challenge or not.  As I said before this month theme is Thanksgiving.  When I think of Thanksgiving I think of turkey, dressing and all the fixing ~ Well I didn't think that would make a great cookie but pumpkin pie is a part of Thanksgiving and you need cranberries when you eat your turkey and that is something that I can work with.

I have always wanted to make biscotti and my BBF Marlene from Nosh My Way made some Cracked Pepper Chocolate Chunk Biscotti for one of the Fill the Cookie Jar months and it just made me want to make them even more.  I love biscotti and it is a cookie that is great for dipping either in tea, coffee or hot chocolate.  So, I decided this month I was going to make some with Pumpkin, Chai and Dried Cranberries... They turned out wonderful and every day they even taste better as they get crunchier and the flavours mesh together.  This recipe was adapted from a basic biscotti recipe that I found on  Allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Chai Biscotti
adapted from Allrecipes.com 


Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar ( I use Morena Pure Cane Sugar)
1 cup pumpkin
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour ( I used 1 1/4 cup white whole wheat and 2 cups white flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 cup spiced chai instant powder ( I used Dove Chocolate Discover Spiced Chai)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
coarse sugar (optional)

Salted Caramel Icing (optional)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In mixing bowl, mix together vegetable oil, eggs and sugar.  Add pumpkin and mix well.
In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and chai powder.
Mix flour mixture into egg mixture until it makes a heavy dough.
Mix in cranberries
Divide dough into two piece and roll out on greased cookie sheet * to the length of the cookie sheet and about 5 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick
Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
Once baked cool off slightly until you are able to cut.  Cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices.  Places slices back on cookie sheet cut side up.
Place bake in oven and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes each side, until lightly toasted.
Once toasted, cool.
While cookies are cooling make Salted Caramel Icing:
In sauce pan melt butter, add milk and brown sugar and bring to boil.  Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat
Add vanilla and icing sugar and mix well.
Drizzle over top of cookies.

Enjoy with a cup of Chai Tea
Writer's Notes:
* I used my baking mats and the cookies stuck slightly to it... I just needed to use a spatula.  Next time I will try parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet to see if it makes any difference.
~ my cookies weren't that hard.  I am thinking after the initial baking it would be better to lower the temperature and leave them in the oven longer or let them dry slightly in the oven when turned off.  Anyone have any suggestions?  They still tasted good but weren't as crunchy as the biscotti I have bought. Everyone that tried them at work said they were good.

Last month I Filled the Cookie Jar with Cobweb Cookies (AKA Lace Cookies).

If you would like to join our group, head over to Feeding Big and fill out  this form.







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LINKS: In and Out of the KitchenFoodies & Crafties Soirée

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26 comments :

  1. Oh you know I love biscotti Marlys, and these look amazing! I also love anything salted caramel, so this icing is totally for me. I am going to make these soon!

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    1. I hope you enjoy them Sarah if you make them.. and I am a big fan of salted caramel anything too.

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  2. Marlys, I have never made biscotti, but I love it. I think your Pumpkin Chai Biscotti NEEDS to be made at my house. (And, although you say that the Salted Caramel Icing is "optional", it will be "mandatory"). ;)

    Caramel, pumpkin, chai, cranberries, whole wheat.....I think you have completely captured "fall".

    Love, Joy @ Yesterfood

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    1. Joy, I hope that you enjoy them if you make them and I agree the Salted Caramel Icing is mandatory at my house.

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  3. I love cookies!! What a fun challenge! I'm currently thankful that it stopped raining so I'm thinking weather related gratitude is perfectly fine. Pinning!

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    1. I love this challenge.. So much fun to see what everyone comes up with and the added bonus is there is more cookies then just mine on the post. Thanks for pinning.

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  4. Ooooh Marlys these look really delicious. I'm a wimp, I haven't yet tried to make biscotti. You have inspired me to give this recipe a try, I love all the ingredients too. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Joanne, Let me know how they turn out if you make some.

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  5. Yummy! I have never tried or made biscotti before. Now i must!

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    1. this was my first time too.. and I will be making more in the future I know...

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  6. Yum! I love making biscotti. I'm not a fan of chai, what would be a good substitute?

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    1. Heather you could just leave the chai out and add some ginger, cinnamon and spice or pumpkin pie spice would be great... I would probably add about 1 tsp or 1 1/2 tsp total. I didn't feel that there was a great chai taste to this if you never used the instant chai for anything else it would be a waste of money.

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  7. Pumpkin and chai together. really cool idea.

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    1. chai has been my new ingredient in cooking... I love it with pumpkin.

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  8. Those sound yummy! Thank you for sharing at the DBB!

    Emily @ Love, Pasta and a Tool Belt

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  9. dayummmmmm girl! these look good! pinning

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  10. Pinned to my Cookie Monster board! I love Pumpkin, Chai, and Biscotti so this is a total win for me.

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  11. Thank you for making these biscotti. They look so decadent and I want some PDQ. I am glad you chose my number one choice of cookie.

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  12. I have never made biscotti before. These look wonderful. I am definitely going to have make some myself.

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  13. Your biscotti look so good, the chai flavor sounds wonderful in these!

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  14. Thanks for joining us at the Foodies and Crafties Soiree!

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  15. Looks really delicious! I would love to make them on day, pinned, so I can:)
    Thanks for sharing at Foodies & Crafties Soirée!
    Gosia | Kiddie Foodies

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  16. Oh I need to try these! I pinned for later. Thank you!

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  17. I'm not a very good baker and I've never made Biscotti but I want to try these! I want to eat one now! I definitely pinned this!

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