Pistachio Cranberry Paximadi (Greek Biscotti)
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)
- 2/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 oz skinos mastic liqueur
- 2/3 cup granulated organic sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- dash of salt
- zest from 3 organic oranges
- 4 oz shelled pistachio halves
- 4 oz organic dried cranberries
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper and set aside.
In a stand mixer place in the flour, sugar, baking powder and a dash of salt and turn on to the low speed. Add the olive oil, water, liqueur and blend for 3 minutes until a rough sticky dough is formed. Turn the mixer off and add the cranberries, pistachios and grate the zest from the oranges directly into the bowl. Turn the mixer on again to incorporate for another 3 minutes.
Remove the mixing bowl and move it to a working area where the surface is lightly floured. Use a rubber spatula to remove the dough and split it in half. Begin to knead one half of the dough adding extra flour if needed until is smooth and pliable. You'll want the dough to be a tad wet still and sticky but add enough flour so you can handle it. Form the dough into a log and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Once both logs are ready place it in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the logs from the oven and lower the temperature to 250 F.
Let the logs cool down for 5-10 minutes so you can handle them and take each log to a cutting board and slice into 1/2-1in pieces. Place those pieces back onto the baking sheet, interior side down and repeat with second log.
Cook for 2-21/2 hours flipping the cookies half way through.
Let cool and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
Notes
The 3 hour cooking time, is mostly inactive as the cookies dry out in the oven to result in the hard bite your looking for. It's a perfect thing to do on a rainy day.
Everytime I am in Greece, I wait in line to pick up these hard biscotti like cookies called paximadi. Its a Greek twist on a biscotti and can be veered towards a sweeter side or omit half the sugar, nuts, and dried fruit and you have the plain version. The most traditional form has sesame seeds or fennel seeds, orange juice, and a dash of Greek aniseed liqueur such as ouzo. The bakery I am preferable two sells two different varieties, one has candied fruit and nuts and the other dried fruit and nuts, both versions are just perfect. They’re not too sweet and perfectly crunchy so they make for the perfect accompaniment to coffee or tea, they can be topped with sweet or savory toppings, and cut up into a salad. Unfortunately, I ate them all a bit too fast and needed to make my own so heres a recipe for my take on Paximadi with pistachio and cranberry. You’ll be rewarded with the tart bite of the cranberry and the creamy pistachio bits which is all embedded in the crunchy mastic flavored biscotti base. To further the explosion of flavor, the lingering feel left on your tongue is from the extra virgin olive oil and orange zest segments. I dare you not to go in for seconds.
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