Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

 Our weather has been perfection this week. Crisp cold nights followed by clear cerulean blue sky days with hardly a cloud to be seen. The perfect weather to pick back up my afternoon hot tea ritual. What goes better with a mug of hot tea than a crunchy, not too sweet piece of biscotti. My love for all things pumpkin has been well documented on this blog. I'm pretty sure that I have posted more recipes with pumpkin as the star than any other ingredient. My love for that orange squash runs very deep ! I've been craving pumpkin pie for a couple of weeks now. So of course when I came across a recipe for pumpkin pie biscotti, I HAD to make it immediately. The biscotti contains all the spices found in pumpkin pie as well as pumpkin puree. The pumpkin puree gives the biscotti a beautiful orange color and really ups the pumpkin flavor. It's perfect if you are needing an afternoon pumpkin pie fix to go with you cup of tea!

Pumpkin Pie Biscotti
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup mashed canned pumpkin
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1cup pecans , coarsely chopped


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl; stir well. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, stirring well with a wire whisk. Slowly add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (Mixture will be very crumbly; it will gradually become moist after stirring.) Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add pecans. Cook, stirring constantly, until nuts are slighty browned. Remove from heat and cool completely. 

Knead or gently stir cooled nuts into dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Lightly flour hands and shape each portion into approximately 2 x 12" long log. Place logs  lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake for 25-28 minutes; cool logs 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300. Cut each log diagonally into 1/2" slices using a serrated knife. Place slices on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until they reach the desired crunchiness. The biscotti will get a bit crisper as it cools. Cool completely on wire racks.

source: Southern Living 1996 (adapted)

All that's missing is a piping hot cup of Chai tea!