Have you ever wondered how to make Biscotti at home? These classic, twice-baked Italian cookies are incredibly easy to make and can be customized with your favorite add-ins. Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Perfect Italian Cookie, Made Easy
These super easy Italian biscotti couldn’t be more different from the soft and chewy cookies that I usually share with you. If you’ve ever had biscotti before, you already know they’re not soft at all. Instead they’re hard and crunchy, and despite the fact that I usually avoid these two characteristics like the plague when it comes to cookies, I love these biscotti. In fact, I think they’re ridiculously delicious. But then again, aren’t all Italian desserts?
I used to think that biscotti were challenging to make (kind of like cannoli), but they’re actually not-not even a little bit. Biscotti are made with a very simple dough that you can customize with your favorite extracts and add-ins. They’re different from most cookies, because instead of scooping the dough, you’ll form it into two logs, bake them, let them cool completely, and then slice and them bake again. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can also dip or drizzle your biscotti with chocolate, but that’s totally your call (obviously, I’m team chocolate 🙋🏼♀️).
Let’s dive right in!
What You Need
Prepare yourself: these ingredients are SUPER basic, but they yield amazingly crisp and flavorful cookies. Here are the stars of today’s recipe:
- Butter. While some recipes use oil, I like to use butter for a better flavor and texture. Use unsalted, softened (not melty!) butter.
- Sugar. Since they are cookies, biscotti should be sweet! Stick with granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Eggs. We’ll add these one at a time and will mix the batter thoroughly after each addition. If you can remember, set your eggs out beforehand so they’re room temperature-they’ll incorporate better that way!
- Vanilla. Two teaspoons will give us a lovely vanilla flavor. If you like your biscotti to taste more traditional (think pizzelle cookies), you can always reduce your vanilla to 1½ teaspoons and add a splash of anise extract (I’ve included instructions in the notes).
- Flour. All-purpose flour works best here. If you have trouble with the dough sticking while trying to form it, feel free to flour your hands.
- Almonds and chocolate chips. While I use chocolate chips and slivered almonds here, you can substitute whatever you like. You can use about 1⅓-1½ cups of your favorite add-ins; raisins, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and pistachios, all are popular choices!
- Chocolate. This is optional, but if you’d like to either dip or drizzle your biscotti with extra chocolate (who doesn’t?!) melting wafers work well. You could also use chocolate chips.
SAM’S TIP: If you have a stand mixer, use it! While you can get away with using an electric hand mixer, this dough gets pretty stiff and difficult to mix, so save yourself some effort and use a stand mixer.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Biscotti
- Cream together the butter and sugar until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until well incorporated. Stir in the vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them into the wet ingredients.
- Stir in your add-ins.
- Divide the dough into equal pieces and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Form the dough into logs with lightly floured hands.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350F, then cool completely.
- Use a serrated knife to slice the loaves diagonally. Place the biscotti cut side down onto your baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove your biscotti from the oven, flip them over, and bake for another 10 minutes. Allow the biscotti to cool completely before dipping or drizzling with chocolate.
SAM’S TIP: Use care when flipping your biscotti as they come out of the oven; they are much more fragile and likely to break while they are warm. I recommend using tongs and a gentle hand to turn them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Enjoy! And if you’re looking for a chocolate version, be sure to check out my chocolate biscotti!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
