Gingerbread Biscotti

This gingerbread biscotti recipe is an original, and it is one that I'm very proud to share. I love gingerbread cookies but I think they clash with classic sugar cookies around the holidays. So I created this recipe to introduce gingerbread to the holiday cookie plate without dethroning my precious frosted sugar cookies.

The gingerbread cookies are crisp but not hard. They taste like the holidays, but they're also delicious in the middle of summer. Each cookie features spicy ginger, spiced fruit, and crumbly-yet-crisp texture. Because they're made with butter, they're a bit softer than those rods they try to pass off as biscotti at the coffee shop.

You'll notice an unusual method. You use just enough dark rum to slightly re-hydrate the dried ginger and cranberries. The little bit of rum that's left carries the ginger flavor throughout the whole cookie. Molasses and a bit of orange zest round out the flavor profile.

This recipe makes 48-64 nicely-sized biscotti and can be cut in half or doubled with similar results. But these cookies also keep exceptionally well, so you may want to make a larger batch. I like to put them into wide-mouth quart jars and have enjoyed them months after baking when they're stored this way.

• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 ½ cups Butter, slightly firm
• 4 Eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 2 teaspoons Orange Zest
• 2/3 cup Molasses
• 6 cups Flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 cups Dried Cran-cherries (substitute cranberries if needed)
• ½ cup Crystallized Ginger
• Dark Rum, just enough to soak
• 2 cups Pecans

Yield: 48–64 cookies

Prepare the fruit:

1. Finely mince the crystallized ginger.
2. Place the Cran-cherries and ginger in a small saucepan.
3. Pour just enough dark rum over it to cover the fruit.
4. Cover the pan with a lid. Bring it to a boil then remove it from the heat.
5. Let it stand until the berries are softened, and most of the rum is gone.
6. Make sure the mix is at room temperature before mixing into the dough.

Make the dough:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until blended. No need to whip it until it's fluffy.
2. Fold in the eggs, vanilla, orange zest, and molasses. Blend until thoroughly combined.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Stir it into the dough.
4. Stir in the cranberries, ginger, and remaining drops of rum to the dough.
5. Fold in the pecans. Warning: The dough will be sticky 

Hand-form the cookies:

1. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions
2. Use wet hands to sort of "pat" the dough into four flat loaf-like shapes that are about 4 inches wide on parchment-lined baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the dough is set. If it releases easily from the parchment, that's done enough!

Cool then bake again:

1. Cool completely on racks—not on the parchment. These cookies need to breathe.
2. Slice the loaves into biscotti that is approximately ¾-inch thick. They will be soft at this point, so handle with care.
3. Place the cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, cut side down.
4. Return them to the oven set at 300° F
5. Toast the cookies for 10–15 minutes on each side, or until the cookie has dried out a bit and each side is toasted.