Biscotti
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Learn how to make classic biscotti with this simple, delicious recipe. I’ll teach you the traditional twice-baked technique for perfectly crisp, lightly sweet cookies that are tailor-made for dunking in your favorite warm beverage.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Inspired by the biscotti recipe from the renowned Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, these almond-studded Italian cookies are made by shaping a fragrant dough into loaves, partially baking it, slicing it, and then baking it again. It’s everything you want biscotti to be: buttery, lightly sweet, and crunchy without being tooth-shattering. Perfect with morning coffee, dessert wine, or afternoon tea, this biscotti recipe also pairs beautifully with sweets like vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, or hot fudge sundaes.
What You’ll Need To Make Biscotti
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides the structure for the biscotti. Measure by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off to ensure accuracy.
- Cornmeal: Adds a slight crunch and unique flavor.
- Baking Powder: Leavens the dough, giving it a light texture.
- Anise Seeds: Imparts a subtle licorice flavor that complements the almonds nicely. You can omit the anise seeds if you like, but I think it brings the cookies to life (and I’m not a fan of licorice!).
- Butter: Adds richness and moisture.
- Sugar: Sweetens the biscotti.
- Large Eggs: Binds the ingredients and adds richness.
- Vanilla Extract & Almond Extract: Enhance the flavor of the biscotti. You can switch up the flavor by adding spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, use different extracts such as coconut, or add a teaspoon of citrus zest. For recipe variations, check out my walnut cinnamon biscotti and chocolate biscotti.
- Almond Extract: Intensifies the almond flavor of the dough.
- Slivered Almonds: The most common nut used in biscotti, almonds add crunch and flavor. Other nuts can also be used, such as hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, anise seeds and salt in a medium or large bowl. Whisk until well combined and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the chopped almonds and dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined.
Dust your hands with flour and form the dough into two even disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
Divide each disk in half, and form the dough into logs about 2 inches wide and ¾-inch tall on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the dough is firm and golden around the edges.
Let the logs cool for about 15 minutes, then use a serrated knife to slice them diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces.
Place the biscotti cut side down back on the lined baking sheet and cook for 10 to 14 minutes more, flipping once in between. Cool biscotti completely on the baking sheet before serving. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month; freeze for longer storage.
Want to add dried fruit? You can add about 1 cup of dried cranberries, raisins, dried cherries along with the slivered almonds. If using dried fruit, consider also adding a teaspoon of lemon zest or orange zest to highlight the fruit flavor.
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Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¼ cup cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon anise seeds, crushed with the back of a spoon into a powder
- 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1¾ cups slivered almonds, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set the oven racks in the upper and middle thirds of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and crushed anise seeds.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and almonds and mix on low speed until just combined. Dust your hands lightly with flour and divide the dough into evenly into two disks; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide each disk into two equal pieces. Dust your hands with flour and form each portion into logs about 2 inches (5 cm) wide and ¾ inch (2 cm) tall directly on the lined baking sheets (if the dough is sticky, dust your hands with more flour as necessary). Leave about 4 inches (10 cm) of space between the logs to allow the dough to spread. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through, until the loaves are firm to the touch and golden around the bottom edges. Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
- Once cool, transfer the logs to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut the logs diagonally into generous ½-inch (13-mm) slices. (They will look a little undercooked in the middle.) Arrange the cookies, cut side down, back on one of the lined baking sheets. It will be a tight squeeze; it's not necessary to leave any space between the cookies. Return to the oven on the middle rack and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until lightly golden on the underside. Remove the pan from the oven, carefully flip the biscotti over, and cook for 5 minutes more, until lightly golden all over. Let cool on the baking sheet completely before serving. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to a month.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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A perfect biscotti! Deliciously crunchy and not too sweet.
I can’t stand Anise and just want a true almond flavored biscotti. Can I eliminate the anise seed and should I substitute with something else? I never could understand why licorice flavorwas put in almond biscotti. It overpowers that beautiful almond flavor.
Haven’t made this yet so my stars are only indicative of the recipe itself.
Hi Tammy, you can omit the anise (but just a heads up that I don’t like licorice and I enjoy the anise here). 🙂
I made these and they were a lacking in almond flavour. I used hand chopped whole almonds with skins on (I live in the UK and can’t source slivered almonds) and I replaced the vanilla essence with almond liqueur (Disaronno) and used the almond essence. I couldn’t source anise seeds so left these out. If I try again should I up the amount of almond liquor – it was pretty sticky as it was – and would crushed fennel seeds work? Grateful for any guidance. PS note there are variances between the recipe here and in your book (which I just received and am enjoying) so will follow the book version next time but would still be grateful for any guidance on upping the almondness. Thanks, Helen
Hi Helen, The recipes are the same. 🙂 Question: Are you using almond essence or almond extract? I’m not all that familiar with almond essence but almond extract has a very strong almond flavor (which is why it is used so sparingly).
I used almond extract, which is within date, but it has been opened for a while – does it deteriorate once opened? I’ll try a fresh bottle next time.
Would the aniseed flavour help with emphasising the almond-ness at all? Hence my wondering about fennel seeds.
The difference between the online and book recipe in the metric version is the oven temperature (only 5C) – since I have a fan oven I tend to adjust by 20C and I thought the resulting almond biscotti suggested the temperature was too low, they didn’t have the rise I have experienced with your chocolate biscotti when I used a higher oven temperature.
Many thanks for getting back to me.
Hi Helen,
I don’t think the extract would deteriorate – you could try adding a bit more, just go easy as it’s very strong and too much can be overpowering. And yes the anise seeds definitely complement the almond flavor – it’s a wonderful combination (and I say that as a person who does not like licorice). I do think you could substitute fennel seeds. Hope that helps!
It does so thank you very much (and I am a liquorice lover so will definitely try the crushed fennel seeds). One further question (sorry !!) do you think I could use flaked almonds or would they be too delicate and be in danger of breaking up into unrecognisable pieces? It’s just hand chopping the almonds is a slight chore hence wondering about a short cut. Many thanks again.
Sure! I think the flaked almonds will work just fine.
How do I freeze these? Freeze the dough or the cookies?
HI Nicole, Fully baked biscotti freeze beautifully; you can also freeze the dough. It also works well to prep your biscotti up through the first round of baking and cut them before freezing – this allows you to do more of the work ahead, and because it will already be sliced, it will take less time defrost and bake.
These are my absolute favorite biscotti! Very tasty—great texture and flavors, easy to make and great with a cup of coffee or tea. Thanks for a perfect recipe Jenn!!
Jenn,
Where do I buy Fine Cornmeal? Are some brands better than others?
I want to make this recipe soon.
Thanks,
Carol
Hi Carol, Fine cornmeal is just regular cornmeal – sorry for the confusion (I have updated the recipe).
I have made many different Biscotti recipes over the years This recipe is one that when we are invited to friends for a meal they are asking if “ if you have any of that Biscotti on hand would you bring it please”. THIs is a 5 Star winner according to our friends: Thank you Jen!
Thank you so much for this amazingly good recipe! I am gluten free so used king arther all purpose mix and swapped almond meal for corn meal because it was what I had on hand. They turned out great and even my Italian husband loves them!
I would also like to make these gluten free–but thee is a king arthur baking mix and an all-purpose flour—can you clarify which you used? Thank you
Hi Sandy, I’d recommend this one. I’d love to hear how the biscotti come out!
Hi Jen, your blog is now my go-to for so many things!
I tried these biscotti, cutting out 1/3 of the sugar. The dough was very soft, looking much more moist than your photo. I had to add a bit more flour to work the dough into the disks.
The final biscotti were very tasty but crumbly. Do you think my cutting some of the sugar contributed to this? Did I cut them too thickly? Your thoughts are appreciated.
Thank you, Smetha! I do think cutting the sugar could cause these issues — I would try them again with the full amount.
I’m a pretty solid Baker but did not have good luck with these. I think it was the addition of cornmeal that made the texture kind of weird. Did not have the flavor I was hoping for. I’m going to try her chocolate biscotti next.