Easy Almond Biscotti
This easy almond biscotti recipe is a crunchy Italian cookie dipped in white chocolate, dried cranberries, and pistachios.
I love everything about the holidays and munching on these chocolate dipped cranberry almond biscotti while sipping our coffee and opening presents makes for the perfect Christmas morning.
They aren’t just for the holidays. I make homemade biscotti all year long! I love this version with white chocolate, cranberries, and pistachios, but it’s also delicious with milk chocolate or dark chocolate and any combination of nuts or dried fruit you like.
If you love something just a little sweet with your morning coffee you have to make a batch and give it a try!
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What’s in Almond Biscotti
- Dry Ingredients – Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt
- Eggs – You’ll need 2 large eggs.
- Butter – You’ll use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Flavoring – Almond extract can be a little overpowering so we use a combination of almond extract and vanilla extract to soften the flavor.
- Slivered almonds – lightly toasted almonds blend perfectly with these flavors. You can also try hazelnuts, walnuts, or any other nuts you like.
- White Chocolate – You can sub milk or dark chocolate.
- Dried cranberries – These really give the biscotti the holiday flavor.
- Pistachios – Not only does this add to the flavor but the green pistachio mixed with the red cranberry just screams Christmas.
How to Make Almond Biscotti
Step 1 – Prepare oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 2 – Toast almonds. In a small skillet over medium heat toast your slivered almonds for approximately 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t burn!
Step 3 – Dry Ingredients. In a bowl combine the dry ingredients; all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together well and set aside.
Step 4 – Cream butter. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of your mixer and mix together using the paddle attachment until it is creamy.
Step 4 – Add eggs, vanilla, and almonds – Add the eggs, almond and vanilla extract to the butter mixture and continue to mix for 30 seconds.
Step 5 – Add dry ingredients. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the flour eggs, and butter come together to form a dough.
Step 6 – Almonds. Add the almonds to the dough and mix in with a spatula or by hand.
Step 7 -Form dough. Divide your dough in half and place each piece on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Form each half into a 2-3-inch-wide log that is about 3/4-inch-tall.
Note: We suggest two small baking sheets that can sit side-by-side in the oven so you can make them at the same time.
Step 6 – Bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is firm but still has a little bit of give when you press on it.
Note: If your baking sheets can’t fit-side-by-side you’ll need to bake them separately.
Step 7 – Cool and cut. Once it is done baking, let the dough cool for 20 minutes. Then, using a serrated knife, cut the log diagonally into 1-inch wide slices.
Step 8 – Bake again. Place the slices back on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for another 5 minutes on each side until they are crisp.
Step 9 – Cool. Remove from oven and let cool.
Step 10 – Melt chocolate. While the biscotti cools chop up the chocolate and melt it in the microwave heating it for 15 seconds at a time until it is smooth.
Step 11 – Dip and top. Once the biscotti has cooled, dip the flat edge (the bottom when it was baking) into the chocolate and then sprinkle with finely chopped cranberries and pistachios.
Step 12 – Let sit. Let the chocolate firm up and then you’re ready to enjoy!
Biscotti gets so hard because you bake it twice. It’s literally in the name. In Italian, “bis” means twice and “cotti” means baked. This removes almost all of the moisture from the biscotti, which helps to prevent mold. It dates back to ancient times when you needed your bread dry to last you on long trips.
We add just a little butter to our recipe which helps soften the final product just a bit but it will still have a good crunch.
Biscotti is supposed to be really crunchy because they are made to be served with coffee. Dunk your biscotti into your coffee or hot chocolate just like you would dunk cookies into milk and the biscotti will be the perfect texture for eating.
We love dunking ours in some Bailey’s Irish coffee for a special treat!
It is not necessary to chill your dough. However, if your dough is becoming difficult to work with because it is too sticky, you can chill it for 30 minutes before molding and baking.
Yes! Once you have dipped them and the chocolate has fully hardened, store in airtight container or wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Store in freezer up to 2 months.
When you’re ready to use them, remove biscotti from the freezer and unwrap. Let it thaw on a platter or baking sheet until they reach room temp. This will keep any condensation from getting on the cookies and softening them.
How to Store It
You can store these in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If you are making them ahead of time you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer for 2 months. See freezing instructions above.
Looking for Easy Cookie Recipes?
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
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- Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- White Chocolate Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
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- More Cookie Recipes…
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Easy Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 5 tablespoons Unsalted butter
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 teaspoons Almond extract
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Slivered almonds, lightly toasted
- 8 ounces White Chocolate
- 1 cup Dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 1 cup Pistachios, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small skillet over medium heat toast your slivered almonds for approximately 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t burn.
- In a bowl combine the dry ingredients; all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together well and set aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of your mixer and mix together using the paddle attachment until it is creamy.
- Add the eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract and continue mixing for 30 seconds or until the mixture comes together.
- Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the flour eggs, and butter come together to form a dough.
- Stir in the almond slices.
- Divide the dough in half and place it on a parchment paper -lined baking sheet.
- Form each half into a 2-3 inch-wide log that is about 3/4-inch-tall.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough is firm but still has a little bit of give when you press on it.
- Once it is done baking let the dough cool for 20 minutes. Then using a serrated knife cut the log diagonally into 1-inch wide slices.
- Place the slices back on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for another 5 minutes on each side until they are crisp.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- While the biscotti cools chop up the chocolate and melt it in the microwave heating it for 15 seconds at a time until it is smooth.
- Once the biscotti has cooled dip the flat edge (the bottom when it was baking) into the chocolate and then sprinkle with cranberries and pistachios.
- Let the chocolate firm up and then you’re ready to enjoy!
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on February 5, 2019. It was republished with an updated recipe and photos on December 13, 2022.
I love making biscotti! I discovered how easy it was a few years ago as well. I am saving this recipe and making these. They look so festive!
I had no idea how much I’d love making my own! I should have started doing this years ago 🙂
Nice recipe! The cranberry and pistachios really make a great Christmas treat!
These look amazing and we love biscotti, but I’m a little confused. The ingredients say “all purpose flour” but the directions say “add biscotti mix”. Could you please confirm that I just need APF and not a biscotti mix? Thank you!
Hi Julene, thanks for asking! The recipe instructions were originally written for a homemade biscotti mix that you could give to friends and then they could add the remaining ingredients. I have updated it to be more clear. You need all purpose flour to make the dry mixture for the biscotti.
I love the gift presentation. Question did you make your own to and from tag? If so may I ask how?
I have a Silhouette so I was able to cut out my own tags but if you search “coffee gift tags” on Amazon there are lots of similar tags you can purchase!