Orchard Talk

We are very proud of our dried tart cherries at King Orchards, and now we have even more of them to love. We recently added two new products to our store: All American Dried Tart Cherries and Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Tart Cherries.

All American Dried Tart Cherries are sweetened with apple juice rather than sugar. Dried cherries sweetened with apple juice are a great alternative for our customers who are watching their sugar intake, but aren’t quite ready for the extra-tartness of a completely un-sweetened tart cherry. Pleasingly plump and naturally sweetened, these dried cherries are a great kids snack (nothing but fruit and a light coating of sunflower oil) and a great choice for baking (they don’t absorb as much moisture from baking recipes).

We named these new dried cherries “All American” because we sweeten them with only U.S. grown apple juice. There is a lot of imported apple juice on the market these days and frankly, it would have been a lot cheaper to use, but we’re apple growers too, and couldn’t bring ourselves to using imported apple juice.  Enjoy them in good health and in good conscience knowing you’re supporting U.S. apple growers.

Our second but no less exciting addition is Dark Chocolate Covered Dried Tart Cherries.  Premium dark chocolate coats our traditional dried tart cherries, creating a rich and chewy, sweet and tart treat. What more can we say about these yummies other than, it’s about time?!

Tags: chocolate covered dried cherries, dried tart cherries, juice sweetened dried cherries

This recipe makes 72 biscotti

Ingredients
2 cups King Orchards dried tart cherries
1/4 cup orange juice
hot water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
powdered sugar, for rolling

Cooking Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine the cherries and orange juice in a small bowl and add just enough hot water to cover. Set aside for 15 minutes or more.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Drain the cherries and discard the liquid. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together. Add them to the flour mixture along with the drained cherries and pecans and stir until a stiff dough forms.

5. Scrape the dough onto a lightly sugared work surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece with the palms of your hands into a log slightly shorter than the length of your cookie sheet.

6. Place two logs on each cookie sheet, several inches apart (the logs will double in width). Bake for 15 minutes, until the logs feel set or firm to the touch. Set the cookie sheets on racks and let cool. Reset the oven to 300°F.

7. When cool to the touch, place the logs on a cutting board. With a serrated knife, slice them into 1/2-inch diagonal slices.

8. Lay the biscotti out on the prepared cookie sheets in a single layer and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until they are dry and lightly toasted. Cool completely.

9. Store in an airtight tin or plastic container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Serving Size: 3 biscotti
Nutritional Information
Number of Servings: 72
Per Serving
Calories 139 Carbohydrate 24 g
Fat 3 g Fiber 1 g
Protein 2 g Saturated Fat 0 g
Sodium 65 mg

Tags: Cherries, cherry recipes, dried cherries, dried tart cherries, michigan cherries, michigan tart cherries, tart cherries, tart cherry recipes