day 2 - pumpkin caramel biscotti

yesterday's challenge proved a little more difficult this morning, when I realized that I didn't have some key ingredients that several recipes called for... hmmm, now what can I make today, that I have on hand? Biscotti was the answer. I love biscotti, normally with my coffee in the morning, today I'm enjoying it with warm apple cider after a long day.


a second challenge issued by my sweet blogging mentor, was to make my pictures a little more interesting... she wasn't a huge fan of the cupcakes on the same plain cake stands for some reason! So, I'm channeling one of my fav bloggers - PW - and trying out something different with pics, here goes nothing!


the list of characters:

As with most biscotti recipes, the dough is pretty dry. This one was simple enough to follow, mix together the dry, mix together the wet, and combine the two. I have to admit, this was stickier than I've made in the past, and I think I might add a bit more flour and a bit of crunch the next time around. Here is my dough half-way through the mixing process:

once the dough comes together, it is time to divide in half and shape. The recipe called for shaping the dough in a half-circle, I like my biscotti in a log form, creative license in whatever shape you prefer! The forming process was pretty messy (back to that sticky dough comment), so unfortunately there are no pictures... I did manage to get one last picture of the pre-baked biscotti:


did I mention the pan was in the oven? Oh well.

as indicated by the name, biscotti is baked twice, once in loaf form, allowed to cool slightly, then sliced on the diagonal (creative license again) and baked again until crisp. Here is the final product, dripping with all it's caramel goodness:

it tasted fantastic with my warm apple cider tonight. For those of you interested in the recipe, here is where I found it:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/pumpkin-caramel-biscotti/

And now, it is WAY past my bedtime... however, I had to blog, I said I would. Time for me to hit the sack, and prepare for tomorrow's tasty goodness! G'night all!