Pumpkin Brown Sugar Cashew Biscotti

M-m-m, cookies! These are on my list to bake for Christmas this year.  I found this recipe at Whole Foods website. Their nutritional count says 0 grams saturated fat per cookie but there are 2 eggs in the recipe. I ran the recipe through my nutrition calculator and it came out the same. Maybe 2 eggs spread over 36 cookies works out to be only a trace of sat fat. Just to be safe, count it as 0.5 gram sat fat per cookie.

Ingredients:

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin purée

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and eggs until well combined. In a second bowl, whisk together flour, cashews, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.   

Using slightly damp hands, shape dough into 3 (6x2 1/2-inch) logs and arrange on a large, parchment-paper-lined baking sheet, spacing them a few inches apart. (This will result in medium-size biscotti. For smaller cookies, shape into 8x2-inch logs.) Bake until just firm and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Set aside to let cool for 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 300°F.   

Using a serrated knife, cut each log crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange on 2 large, parchment-paper-lined baking sheets and bake, rotating the baking sheets and flipping biscotti every 10 minutes or so, until dried out and just crisp, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely, and then serve. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 36 biscotti
Amount Per Biscotti
calories 62
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1 g	1 %
Saturated Fat 0 g	1 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g

Original Recipe at Whole Foods

Peppermint Meringue Cookies

Makes 56 very small cookies

Ingredients 

2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cider vinegar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup white sugar

3 peppermint candy canes, finely crushed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites, vinegar and salt to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Fold in 1/3 of the crushed candy canes, reserving the rest. 
3. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls, one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets, or use a piping bag.  Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.
4. Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, or until dry. Cool on baking sheets.

Notes:

1. Be careful, they will brown if the oven is too hot. 
2. A plain cookie is easy to make too. Substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla for all of the crushed peppermint. Or experiment with other additions like finely chopped walnuts.
3. Pipe them on to the cookie tray with a large star tip and they make pretty cookies.

Original Recipe:All Recipes