Pumpkin Almond Biscotti

It’s autumn now and this year has been a whirlwind for a lot of us. With the temperatures dropping and the leaves following suit, a slab of this biscotti dunked in your morning coffee is a sweet something you’ll want to wake up to. Autumnal flavors pumpkin and spices and an extra crunch with the help of a heaping cup of almonds folded into the dough makes this a favorite of mine to bake on a Sunday for munching on during the week.

Pumpkin Almond Biscotti

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

• 1 teaspoon vanilla (you may also add 1 teaspoon almond extract, if you’d like some extra almond flavor)

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup almond flour

• 1 cup almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt and vanilla (and almond extract if you’re adding some). Once creamy, beat in the egg and pumpkin puree. Slowly incorporate the all purpose flour and almond flour, then stir in the almonds.

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spoon and spread the mixture into a log shape. The dough will be sticky, so a wood spoon works well here.

Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting diagonally with a sharp knife to create the biscotti pieces. Keep them propped up on the pan but separated so that the sides can get toasted during the second bake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake the sliced biscotti for about 40 minutes or so. Allow to cool on the counter before removing from the pan. This recipe is designed to make crunchy but not-too-hard biscotti. Enjoy!