I gotta admit that I’ve been getting lazy. Most of the baked goods I serve are store-bought (or filched off my friends who love to bake, in exchange for sorbet from our business). But that doesn’t mean that when Chanie encouraged me to deviate from my usual soup-for-Yom Tov recipe genre that I wasn’t up to the challenge. Since this is the season for pumpkin spice lattes, I decided to make a seasonal (and not cloyingly sweet) treat to go with them.

Directions

Prepare the Pumpkin Biscotti

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).

2. Cream margarine, sugar, and egg. Add one cup flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Mix to combine. Add pumpkin puree and mix; then add remaining flour and stir until just combined. Line a baking sheet with Gefen Parchment Paper or a silicone mat. Pour the mixture onto sheet and pat it into an 11-and-1/2- by five-inch (29- by 12- and- 1/2-centimeter) rectangle, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick (one to one and a half centimters).

3. Bake for 28–30 minutes.

4. Remove pan from oven and slice into one-inch- (two- and- a- half-centimeter-) wide bars. Lay the bars on their side and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until crunchy. Flip over and bake for another seven minutes on the other side.

5. Meanwhile, combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl. If the glaze seems too thick, add more almond milk one teaspoon at a time. Place in a plastic bag and seal tightly.

6. Allow the bars to cool completely, then snip off a corner of the plastic bag and drizzle the glaze in a zigzag pattern over the bars. Alternatively, skip the glaze and sprinkle with turbinado sugar (aka sugar in the raw) over the biscotti before the initial baking.

Tips:

Can’t get to the store to buy pumpkin pie spice? Make your own! You’ll have enough for this recipe, and then some. Combine one teaspoon cinnamon, one teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon allspice (you can substitute nutmeg).

Notes:

If you don’t like biscotti in the authentic crunchy style and prefer chewy bar-like cookies, skip the second step of returning to the oven to crisp.