Pumpkin Pie Biscotti

318.  Thanksgiving is near and I'm trying a new recipe for Pumpkin Pie Biscotti.

I experimented with a few recipes and found that if you add to a plain recipe; 1/2 cup purée pumpkin, canned or fresh along with pumpkin pie spices: 1/2 tsp clove, tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1/4 cup flour with the dry ingredients,  1/2 cup chopped Ghirardelli white chocolate and 1/2 cup chopped pecans...you will have a great variation to your biscotti recipe.

 The texture of your batter should be moist but not dry or sticky and should be able to hold the shape of a log once formed.  Bake as your recipe states but make sure you do not over bake.  It should be browned and firm.

 I use Ghirardelli white chocolate baking bars because they melt smoother and will not become hard inside your biscotti. The white chocolate chips always seem to burn or become very hard when baked.
Once the biscotti are finished I make a drizzle of white chocolate and a teaspoon or more of crisco to bring the chocolate to a runny consistency for drizzling.

Experiment with your recipe and see how easy it is to change and adapt a recipe to new flavors.

Here is a great link to a variety of biscotti recipes:  http://italianchef.com/biscotti/

and http://allrecipes.com/recipe/17241/biscotti/

"Like most things in life, rushing the process only leads to disappointment."

- Mary Berry, Britains Great Bake Off

Cranberry Bliss Bars (Starbucks)

250. Each Christmas Season, I wait in anticipation for Starbuck's delicious "Cranberry Bliss Bars". Beautiful white and red triangular cut Blondie bar, filled with cranberries and chunks of white chocolate. They come nestled in a paper cup, a perfect pairing with a cup of Pike Place, hot and steaming.

Recently, while on Pinterest, someone pinned a picture of, what they called, a "White Chocolate Cranberry Blondie". AAAAAHHHHHH! It was a Cranberry Bliss Bar! I did a little searching and voila', the recipe! And, it seemed to have all the ingredients as the Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bar. Only one ingredient seemed different...cinnamon in the Blondie (blonde brownie).

So, I stopped at Starbucks...for research sake, of course. And picked up a Cranberry Bliss Bar, brought it home, and we dissected it, tasting each little part and divulged that it was very close to this recipe.

Now, if you do any searching on-line, you will find there are "copy-cat" recipes for these treats. Like the "Top Secret Recipes" by Todd (recipe here) but it is not the same. There is no crystalized ginger in the recipe but a hint of ginger. Or, "Food.com's " recipe, (recipe here) . But, there is no orange zest in the brownie, only orange zest in the frosting. Now, Starbucks posts the nutritional information for their Cranberry Bliss Bar and you can see the bakery ingredients they use towards the bottom of the page. (Information here).

Choose which one is to your pleasing and try this recipe. Here is the one I made:

Cranberry Bliss Bars

or White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies (recipe here)

Blonde Brownie

3/4 cups

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup flour

(1/8 teaspoon ginger or cinnamon - Starbucks does not use cinnamon - optional)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries, (Craisins by Ocean Spray are too sweet. Look for a natural dried cranberry)

6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Frosting

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 Tablespoons grated orange peel

6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Melt butter and stir in brown sugar and cool. Transfer to a large bowl and beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in 1/2 cup cranberries and chopped chocolate. The batter will be thick.

Spread into a parchment lined 13x9inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-21 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:

In a large bowl beat cream cheese, confectioners sugar and orange peel. Add half of the melted chocolate and beat till blended. Frost the cooled brownie

and sprinkle the top with chopped 1/2 cup cranberries.

Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Fantastic!!!! Now, I don't have to wait all year for this delectable treat...I'll just make my own!

"Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee."

~Howard Schultz