Chocolate, pistachio & cardamom biscotti

A little multicultural after dinner treat - an Italian classic corrupted by my penchant for all things Moroccan!

I'm a sucker for cardamom and pistachios, so when Nicola of the Shed Likes Food mentioned she'd recently tried pistachio and cardamom biscotti, I had to give it a go. I used a Bill Granger recipe for chocolate and pistachio biscotti.


I love these because they are dead easy, can be made well in advance, but best of all they look so pretty with little specks of green. Oh and they taste rather delish too!


Chocolate, pistachio and cardamom biscotti
care of Bill Granger "Feed Me Now"
makes about 40

160g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
150g plain flour
60g good quality cocoa powder
80g pistachio nuts chopped
1-2 teaspoons of ground cardamom (taste the batter and adjust according to how much you love this spice!)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Beat the sugar and eggs together by hand or with a mixer, for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, pale and has increased in volume. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and stir to combine. Add the pistachios and mix well. Add a teaspoon of the cardamom and taste (such a chore having to eat raw batter), and add more to suit.

Grease one large or two small baking trays. Divide the mixture in 2 and shape into logs on the baking tray(s). The logs should be about 20cm long and about 2cm thick - maybe 10-15cm wide. Bake for 20 minutes or until firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Turn the oven down to 120 degrees C. Cut the log into slices - about 3/4 cm thick. Spread the slices in a single layer on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes (10 minutes on each side).

Allow the biscotti to cool before storing in an air tight container. They can be stored for up to a month (if you have an iron will!). They are the perfect crunchy, not-too-sweet accompaniment to have with coffee.