Pumpkin Spice Biscotti

As I said last week, this year’s holiday baking became a pumpkin year. In addition to the Pumpkin Chutney Bread and Pumpkin Spice Cookies, I also made Pumpkin Spice Biscotti! This was the first time I made biscotti and I got the recipe from another blogger that I follow, at350degrees, who got it from the blog, Skies of Parchment. Last year my dad made biscotti for the holidays and it was really good so when I saw this recipe in November I left it in my inbox contemplating whether I’d make it myself. After I made the Pumpkin Chutney Bread and had leftover pumpkin puree, I checked the biscotti recipe and discovered I had enough so it was an easy decision to add to the holiday baking list.

There are enough variations of biscotti that you can make a different one every month of the year. And like much of America, I get overly excited when Starbucks brings out their PSL in the fall (that’s Pumpkin Spice Latte for you non-coffee drinkers), so a pumpkin spice biscotti really got me excited.  Biscotti is twice baked, and the second time it’s overnight, so be sure to take that into consideration when you make your own. The next time I make this though I will add more spices as I felt it was a little under spiced. I also chose not to include the almonds. Adding the white chocolate frosting was a lot harder than it was written so I ended up spreading it on the biscotti. Below is the original recipe. Enjoy with your favorite coffee!

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti Ingredients L-R: Flour, Allspice, Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Eggs, Salt, Pumpkin Puree, Baking Powder, Sugar, Butter

PUMPKIN SPICE BISCOTTI (about 24-36 pieces,depending on size)

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped & toasted (optional)
• 1 Cup White Chocolate Chips (for frosting)
• 1 Tsp Oil or Crisco (for frosting)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine all your dry ingredients and set aside.

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti Dry Ingredients

In your stand mixer (or large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer), cream together your sugar and butter starting at a low-medium speed and speeding up to a higher speed to mix well. Stop your mixer and add in the eggs, vanilla and canned pumpkin and combine at a low-speed so as not to splash. Increase to a higher speed and be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix completely.

Creaming together the sugar and butter.

Mixing in the eggs.

Pumpkin puree ready to be added in.

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti Wet Ingredients

Once all the wet ingredients are combined start adding your dry ingredients about half a cup at a time with your mixer on the lowest speed. If you choose to add almonds, now is the time to add those with the rest of the dry ingredients. (I did not, lol.)

Mixing all the ingredients in my kitchen aid stand mixer.

Pull out a large baking sheet and a large cutting board (preferably wooden) and some extra flour. Dust the cutting board with flour and your hands and form two logs from the dough, about 11″ long and 5″ wide, give or take an inch. They should both fit comfortably on your baking sheet. Once your oven is hot bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is firm.

Getting ready to bake the biscotti logs.

Once done, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 200 degrees. Then cut logs into about one inch pieces. Once the oven is cooler and you’re ready to head to bed, stick the logs back into the oven and let bake overnight. They should be dry when you remove them from the oven. Let them finish cooling and then place on wax paper or on your baking sheet to frost.

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti cut and ready to go back into the oven overnight.

To make the frosting melt the white chocolate chips and oil. If using a microwave, do in 30 second intervals 3 times, being sure to stir well. Be careful if using the microwave so the chocolate doesn’t cook. The recipe says to transfer to a plastic bag, making it airtight, then snipping one of the corners to create a pastry bag to allow for decorating. I had trouble making my biscotti look as pretty as the bloggers, so I ended up just frosting one side of each piece. I ended up with 34 pieces, keeping a few for myself that I enjoyed with a nice cup of Peet’s coffee. I hope you and your friends enjoy too!

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti ready for dunking!