Happy Birthday dear friend!

June is usually considered to be the month of weddings, with many birthday's taking a back seat to all the bride's and grooms who take over the world! (I should talk, my anniversary is this month, though my wedding date was chosen based on the date of our first date, not because June is THE month to have your wedding in!)

And what a better birthday to celebrate than Meeta's? She who hosts the Monthly Mingle (which I read, but have yet to participate in,) one of my fellow Daring Bakers! Her pictures are beautiful, those of food droolworthy! Her dedication to healthy eating and to teaching her son about nutrition admirable!

To help celebrate Meeta's birthday, I bring along to the party a bit of a sweet, something to balance out the cakes that will be coming her way - orange cranberry biscotti.

This is a variation of Dorie's Lenox Almond biscotti (page 141) - where I swapped out the almonds for dried cranberries, replaced the almond extract for fresh squeezed orange juice and added in a large orange's worth of zest as well.

To me the unusual part of this cookie is the cornmeal - it gave it an extra crunchy texture. Perhaps if I had had fine cornmeal instead of medium it wouldn't have been so obvious to the texture of the cookie.

I brought these to work, where they were very well received, but personally could not get past the cornmeal crunch. The flavor of the orange and cranberries, however, was divine! (So I obviously need to get some fine cornmeal and try it again!)

Happy Birthday Meeta and the Monthly Mingle!

Orange Cranberry Biscotti
As adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Lenox Almond Biscotti (found in Baking From my Home to Yours)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon orange zest
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon orange juice
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk again to blend.
In bowl of stand mixer, work orange zest into sugar using fingers. Using paddle attachment, add butter to sugar and mix until very smooth, at medium speed. Add the eggs and continue to beat, scarping down the bowl as needed, until the mixture is light. Beat in the orange juice.
Turn speed to low and add the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. The dough will be soft and sticky. Toss in the cranberries and mix quickly to blend.
Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Form a second log with the rest of the dough on the other side of the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the sheet for 30 minutes.
If you've turned the oven off, turn it back on to 350 degrees F.
Transfer cooled logs to a cutting board, and with a serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 3/4 inch thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, but turned onto their side, and put back into the oven.
Bake for another 15 minutes or until cookies are golden and firm. Transfer to rack and cool to room temperature.