Almond Biscotti

Chocolate-dipped almond biscotti are wonderful crunchy cookies that make the perfect companion to a cup of coffee or tea and are a welcome addition to any cookie platter!  Once you realize how easy these are to make, you’ll want to make them all the time!

Almond biscotti may look complicated but are really quite simple.

They require just a few ingredients and can be made entirely by hand – no stand or electric mixers are required.

Our step-by-step process walks you through exactly how to make perfect almond biscotti.

And while we dip ours in melted bittersweet chocolate, you can certainly eat them plain and they’ll be just as good!

Biscotti are a great addition to holiday cookie platters along with Italian S cookies, pignoli, reginelle, and lemon ricotta cookies.

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Preheat the oven to 350f and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roughly chop 3/4 cup (105g) of unsalted, raw almonds.  In a large bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups (300g) of all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup (150g) of granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 of the eggs, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together with a fork until a rough dough is formed.

4. Flour your hands and add the chopped almonds to the dough, mixing with your hands until the almonds are well combined and a dough ball is formed.  The dough will be quite sticky.
5. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and cut the dough in half.  Use your hands to shape each piece into a log roughly 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick and place them each on their own baking sheet.

6. Whisk together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk to create an eggwash.  Using a pastry brush, brush the eggwash onto the logs.
7. Bake the logs for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 275f.  After 10 minutes, transfer the logs to a cutting board and slice them into 3/4-inch slices.

8. Place the slices cut-side up onto the baking sheets and return to the oven to bake for 25 minutes more, or until lightly golden.
9. Allow the biscotti to cool completely, then melt 6 ounces of dark chocolate over a double boiler.

10. Using a pastry brush, paint the chocolate onto one end of the biscotti.  You can also dip the end of the biscotti into the chocolate, but note that you’ll need the chocolate to be deep enough to accommodate the biscotti.  Allow the chocolate to firm up and set completely before serving or storing.  Enjoy!

Top tips for perfect biscotti

• The dough.  Biscotti dough is inherently sticky.  I recommend adequately flouring your hands before working the dough, and if it’s still too sticky to handle, add a little flour at a time but just enough so you can work with it.
• Chocolate.  The chocolate dip is optional, but the combination of chocolate and almond is wonderful and recommended.  Feel free to be creative with dipping.  I’ve made this in the past where the top of the entire biscotti was dipped in chocolate, but I find that having half dipped and half plain lends a perfect balance to this cookie.
• Dipping vs. brushing the chocolate. Brushing the chocolate on with the pastry brush will allow you to use less chocolate and makes for a pretty even distribution, however, there may be striations in the chocolate.  You can definitely dip the biscotti into the chocolate but you’ll need enough depth to allow for the dipping.  The choice is yours.

More of our favorite desserts

Here are a few more of our most loved desserts.  We hope you enjoy!

• Pizzelle – crispy, waffle-like cookies flavored with anise and vanilla and dusted with powdered sugar.
• Italian almond cookies – chewy, delicious and so easy!
• Flourless chocolate cake – rich, fudgy, and incredibly easy chocolate torte.
• Orange olive oil cake – bright citrus and olive oil flavors in this super moist cake.

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