Pineapple Almond Biscotti

Crispy biscotti gets a tropical twist with pineapple and almonds.

Whenever I bake biscotti, I usually make my favorite, apricot pistachio. I like it because the dried apricots give a bit of tartness to the sweet logs. And lately, I’ve been feeling like baking, so I thought I’d post a biscotti recipe, but I didn’t want to do the usual combinations of fruit and nuts.

I love to munch on Trader Joes Dried Baby Sweet Pineapple for a snack, so I decided to use that and go tropical on my biscotti. A lot of grocery stores have dried pineapple in their bulk bins, but those are really sweet and sugary. And because of that, I feel like the pineapple flavor disappears. Trader Joes Dried Baby Sweet Pineapple is just dried pineapple, so it tastes like pineapple…a little sweet, a little tart.

At first I thought I’d pair it with macadamia nuts and really go Hawaiian, but I wasn’t sure how nutty that would be, so I played it safe and went with the usual salted almonds. Maybe next time I’ll do the macs and let you know how they turn out. Anyway, the pineapple is a definite winner. It made me feel like I was back on Maui, which gave me another idea for next time…pineapple, macadamia, AND coconut? Mmmm….ono….that means delish in Hawaiian.

Makes about 5 dozen

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup dried pineapple, chopped
• 1 T flour
• 1¼ cups almonds, rough chopped

In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, blend the first four ingredients on low speed.  Add the the softened butter and mix until crumbly. Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir on low speed just until blended.

Toss the pineapple with the one tablespoon of flour. (Keeps it from sticking together). Add pineapple and almonds to the mixer and blend until the dough forms into a ball.

Divide the dough in half and form two logs 2 inches by 12 inches on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You can dampen fingers to smooth out the logs evenly. Logs should be at least 3 inches apart, as they will spread.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until dry set. Remove from oven and cool completely on the sheet. Transfer the logs to a cutting board and use a serrated knife to slice on the diagonal into three-eighth inch pieces. Place slices back onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden, but not brown. Cool completely on the sheets until hard set. Store in air tight containers.