A festive holiday cookie: pistachio cherry biscotti ~ by Deanna Segrave-Daly, RD

Disclosure: Cumberland Packing Corp. compensated The Recipe ReDux (co-owned by ReganMillerJones, Inc. and Teaspoon Communications), to sponsor this recipe contest. We are therefore not eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

When it comes time for holiday gifts or even general cooking making, my go-to is always biscotti. I got into making them years ago from a Cooking Light recipe for Coffee and Hazelnut Biscotti and then I just started experimenting with different flavors (snickerdoodle is probably the most popular one I make.)

So, I can’t believe that this is only the second biscotti recipe I’ve ever posted (in 2012, in honor of The Recipe ReDux‘s first birthday, I made these Iced Lemon Biscotti Bites.)

This time, our Recipe ReDux members have been challenged by the folks at In the Raw to come up with a holiday baked good or adapt a favorite holiday recipe using their new Monk Fruit In The Raw Bakers Bag. And since every December, I’m making several batches of pistachio cherry biscotti, I thought I’d see how my recipe would work using this zero-calorie sweetener.

So a little background on Monk Fruit In the Raw:

It’s made from vine ripened monk fruit (also known as luo han guo) – a fruit that’s been harvested in Southern China for over 800 years.
It’s 100% natural and zero calories.
It has a clean, sweet taste.

The Monk Fruit In the Raw Bakers’ Bag is brand new and being rolled out into supermarkets across the country. These baking tips came in handy for me:

Cup for cup, it measures like sugar.
For best results, don’t substitute ALL the sugar in your recipe for Monk Fruit In the Raw. (I learned the hard way the first time around.) Start with replacing half of the sugar.
To replace some of volume and moistness that regular sugar brings to a recipe, add extra nuts or dried fruit.

Holiday Pistachio & Cherry Biscotti – The Recipe ReDux

Yield: 2 dozen biscotti 1x

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Ingredients

Scale

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Monk Fruit In The Raw
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup pistachios

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, mix together flours, Monk Fruit in The Raw, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Mix canola oil, water, eggs, vanilla extract, dried cherries and pistachios until dough starts to come together. Divide the dough in half.
On a floured surface, roll out dough into a 12-inch long x 2-inch wide x 1/4-inch thick log. Repeat with other dough half.
Place logs onto a greased cookie tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until slightly browned.
Remove from oven and transfer logs to rack. Cool for 10 minutes.
Using a serrated knife and cutting board, slice logs into 1/2-inch wide cookies.
Place back on cookie tray and bake for 15 more minutes, turning cookies over half way through baking.
Remove from oven and place on racks.

After my first attempt failed (I replaced all the sugar with 3/4 cup Monk Fruit In The Raw and used too much flour which resulted in biscotti batter crumbs), my second batch using a little less flour and a combination of 1/2 cup MFITR with 1/4 cup sugar was the winner.

Original Biscotti: 95 calories, 9 grams sugar per cookie
Biscotti using Monk Fruit In the Raw: 70 calories, 2.5 grams sugar per cookie

Did you know about monk fruit? Have you ever used a sugar substitute in baking? What were the results?

Check out all of the lower calorie holiday treats our ReDuxers came up with for this challenge below!

Jen

Friday 6th of December 2013

I declare your recipe a must make for the holidays. I would live to dip those biscotti in my rooibus tea latte. Yum! Love the pics!!

Liz - Meal Makeover Mom

Thursday 5th of December 2013

Anyone planning to attend a cookie swap this holiday season should consider making your biscotti. They look awesome. I adore pistachios!

Deanna Segrave-Daly

Thanks Liz - I almost ate half of the dried cherries & pistachios before getting them into the batter :) And love love your rustic tart recipe using the Monk Fruit In The Raw - totally gonna try it out.

Elizabeth Jarrard RD (@ElizabethEats)

pistachio biscotti used to be my favorite holiday cookie! i'll have to have my mom try this recipe

Let me know if she makes them :)

Wednesday 4th of December 2013

Yay! I'm anxious to try your yummy clafouti, too - haven't made one in decades :)

Dr Barb, Nutrition Budgeteer

Yum! I love biscotti. I make some version of biscotti every Christmas. Now I know what I want to do make with the Monk Fruit In The Raw that I have left.

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