Pumpkin Biscotti

I suppose that I should preface this entry with a story about this blog came to be:

Eric and I met in highschool about 8 or 9 years ago.  Eric graduated the year before me and moved to Montana for college and the next year I moved to Ohio.   We kept in touch loosely over the past few years.  But last year we decided to get together.  We spent a few days camping and hiking in beautiful western New York, and we discovered that we both have a passion for food.  Not just any food though, the kind that comes with patience and hard work.  The kind that takes a bit more time, but is well worth it in the end.  What has recently become referred to as 'slow food'.
The past year, we have been sending recipes back and forth across states.  And although Eric is in New York and I am now in Texas, we have decided to begin this blog as a project to share our passion for everything homemade with each other and also to post it to share with you.

I understand that it would be appropriate to have the first entry of this blog be a bread recipe, but it is autumn, the best time of the year, and I am feeling homesick for autumn in New York.  So in the spirit of seasonal food, I decided to make some pumpkin biscotti.  Maybe I can convince Eric to write his first entry about bread.

Enough said, now onto the lovely flavors of the fall!

Pumpkin Biscotti (adapted from the way the cookie crumbles)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl sift together:
5 cups  all-purpose flour
2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 pinch cloves

1 pinch allspice
½ teaspoon salt

In another bowl combine the wet ingredients:
4 eggs
1½  sticks butter, melted
1 16 oz can pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

I should note at this point that making vanilla extract its surprisingly simple and quite impressive.  It's  a nice weekend project so maybe I will save it for another entry.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour and stir to combine.  At this point I divided the batch into 2 parts, the 1st part I rolled out onto a baking sheet and cooked as is.  The second part, I added white chocolate chips and craisins.  Don't ask me how much because I failed to measure and just went on aesthetics alone.   Fold the lovely goodies into the mix.

Form the dough into a rectangle ( I made 2) about 1 inch high and roughly 6 inches wide.  Bake for about 30 minutes until firm.  Take out of the oven and let sit for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 325.

Use a serrated knife to cut in the loaf into about one half inch slices.  Lay these slices out onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Try not to eat them right out of the oven... but I just had to sneak one or two before they were completely cooled.  Enjoy!