Page 6 - JacksonHospital

Cover cranberries in warm water in a small bowl and soak to plump them, about 20 minutes. Drain, gently squeeze out excess moisture and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Set a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parch-ment paper (or foil lightly coated with canola oil spray). Set aside.

Grind the almonds with 2 tablespoons of the sugar, pulsing in 5-second bursts until most of the almonds are a powder, about 30 seconds. Place the nuts in a large mixing bowl.

Add the remaining sugar, both fours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to the nuts. Toss the cranberries and raisins with a tablespoon of this mixture, then stir them into the dry in-gredients, mixing well.

Mix in the eggs, vanilla, almond extract and 2 tablespoons water.With a wooden spoon, mix until a sticky, dense dough forms, working in all the four.

Halve the dough. Moistening your hands lightly with cold water, shape the dough into 2 fattened 13-by-2 half-inch logs, spaced 4 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.

Bake until golden and frm to the touch, about 25 minutes. Cool logs on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.

Transfer logs to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut each log diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange them cut side down in one layer on the baking sheet, with slices touching each other.

Bake 10 minutes, turn, and bake 10 more minutes, or until biscotti are a honey color and dry to the touch. Turn the oven off and leave biscotti there for 10 more minutes.

Remove them from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet. Store sealed in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks.

Makes 3½ dozen cookies. Amount per cookie: 70 calories, 2g total fat, less than 1g saturated fat, 12g carbohydrates, 2g protein, 1g dietary fber, 40mg sodium

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research

¾ cup dried cranberries ¾ cup whole almonds 1 cup sugar, divided 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose four ¾ cup whole-wheat pas-try four ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup golden raisins 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¹⁄

8 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons water

COMPLEMENT YOUR FESTIVE FAMILY DINNER WITH A SOPHISTICATED BUT HEALTHFUL TREAT! TRY THESE WHOLE-WHEAT BISCOTTI WITH ALMONDS AND FRUIT.

HAVE A DELIGHTFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!