Happy Tuesday!

Biscotti. This crispy, crunchy confection is one of my favorite breakfast pastries because a) it makes me feel fancy and b) it’s so much easier to make than anything involving puff pastry, like a croissant or danish. As stated, biscotti is a cookie (twice baked) and therefore, is very versatile. Whether it be different flavors, inclusions, or substitutions, cookies are resilient and a great way to try your hand at baking. At this point you may be thinking “why pumpkin?” Well, I found a can of pumpkin puree in the back of my pantry and couldn’t help bust it out the second I smelled fall in the air (even though its been in the 90’s the past week). At first, I was going to make pumpkin doughnuts for a camping trip, but then I realized I already had too much to do and I was too tired to add pumpkin doughnuts to the packing list. Fast forward a couple days, I’m home and the can is still sitting on my counter, staring me in the face. I wanted to use it, but wasn’t sure how, until I realized I needed something for breakfast. Boom. Maple Pumpkin Biscotti is a twist on the traditional recipe, flexing pumpkin’s versatility as not only a flavoring agent, but also as an egg replacement. It’s not like regular biscotti, it’s fall girl biscotti.

Ingredients Explained

• Butter

  • When I refer to butter, I’m referring to plant based butter. For this recipe I used Country Crock Plant Based butter, which worked really well! I noticed this brand was slightly soft, even right out of the fridge, which worked perfectly for this recipe, since there was no need to leave it at room temperature to soften. Other brands I really like are Miyoko’s unsalted butter and Earth Balance.

• Sugar + Maple Syrup

  • The original recipe calls for a total of 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar. In this instance, I substituted 1/3 cup Simple Truth Organic Dark Maple Syrup to impart the flavor in the dough. I wouldn’t include more than 1/3 of a cup, otherwise the ratio of liquid will be thrown off. If you don’t like/don’t have maple syrup, you can use all cane sugar, or substitute

• Pumpkin Puree

  • Pumpkin is playing two roles: to bring pumpkin flavor to the biscotti and as an egg substitute. The original recipe called for 3 eggs, and much like applesauce, ¼ cup of puree was used for every egg replaced, Since pumpkin has a very distinct flavor, I would only use this substitution if you want your final product to taste like pumpkin.

• Vanilla + Spices

  • The great thing about extracts and spices are they aren’t critical to how your pastry will bake, so you can really play around with amounts and flavors! Taste your batter as you add items that change flavor, and adjust from there. Cardamom, for example, adds complexity to any baked good and tends to be the sleeper hit of pumpkin spice. There’s no perfect substitute, but cloves, a pumpkin pie blend, or chai spices would be a great alternative.

• Flour

  • All purpose flour works perfectly in this recipe, but you could also use pastry flour or gluten free flour. I would use a 1:1 ratio gluten free baking flour and I think the recipe would work just fine! Remember, you’re basically making cookies, which are pretty forgiving when it comes to substitutions.

• Baking Soda

  • This is our leavener (the ingredient that helps the biscotti rise). At higher altitudes (like where I live), we need less chemical leavener, in order to achieve the same product you would get at sea level.

• Salt

  • Salt is much like the vanilla and spices, it doesn’t affect how the final product will bake; however, it will change the overall flavor of the biscotti. If you’re following a low sodium diet, you can leave it out, but the overall flavor of the cookie will be duller.

• Pecans

  • I chose pecans for this recipe because there’s something about pumpkins and pecans that just goes together, but you can add any inclusion you want! Chocolate chips, a different nut, coconut, multiple combos, or nothing at all! That’s up to you.

Notes Before Cooking…

• Butter and Pumpkin Puree will be separated. When you typically add eggs to butter, it becomes emulsified, but in this instance, the pumpkin won’t blend completely with the butter. This is totally fine, and won’t affect the overall product.

• Dough will be a bit drier than cookie dough.

• Two recipes are included. One for sea level and one for high altitude (about 5500 feet or 1655 meters).

• If at high altitude, .6 Tbsp of baking soda is needed. 1 ½ tsp is .5 Tbsp, so that’s why it’s heaping, we need a bit more than half a Tbsp.

• Scrape down sides of bowl in between additions of ingredients. This will allow all ingredients to become incorporated evenly, and prevent anything from hiding on the bottom of the bowl.

• It can be hard to tell if the cookies are golden brown due to the pumpkin’s color. A good way to tell is by tapping the loaves to see if they make a slightly hollow sound.

• Be careful moving the baked loaves right out of the oven. Let the loaves cool on the sheet tray for 10-15 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

• You can leave the biscotti as is or ice with powdered sugar drizzle, or dip in white chocolate. I noticed my powdered sugar drizzle made the biscotti softer, so if you like a firmer biscotti, leave plain.

• The high altitude measurements will need to be adjusted if you’re at a higher altitude than 6000 ft.

Recipe