Easy Authentic Italian Biscotti Recipe - The Best! (2024)

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Ingredients for classic Italian biscotti recipe

You probably have everything you need already in your pantry to make this great biscotti recipe. Besides being easy and yummy it is also fairly inexpensive to make a large quantity of cookies. The added benefit is that they will last a really long time and are very easy to store.

• All-purpose flour (280 grams | 2.24 cups) – you can use all-purpose wheat flour for this recipe or if you are located in Italy you can use 00 flour. We prefer organic flour, but it isn’t necessary if you don’t have it in your pantry.
• Granulated sugar (150 grams | 0.75 cup) – white sugar is needed for this recipe. We don’t recommend using other types of sugar because it changes the texture of the cookies too much.
• Almonds with peel (130 grams | 0.91 cup) – whole almonds are what the recipe calls for, but some people prefer using blanched almonds, which simply means that the skin has been removed and they are perfectly fine to use. You can also see our “variations” sections for ideas of substitutions if you don’t happen to like almonds or nuts.
• Eggs (2 large) – we love farm fresh organic eggs, but if you can’t get them it’s no big deal.
• Orange peel (1) – you will need to make orange zest, so the orange should definitely be organic because you want to avoid zesting chemical residue into your biscotti.
• Lemon peel (1) – just like with the orange peel, an organic lemon is very important when making your zest to use in this great recipe.
• Vanilla extract (1 tablespoon) – use pure extract if at all possible, or you can substitute with vanilla essence if that’s all you have.
• Baking powder (1 teaspoon) – be sure to use fresh baking powder because baking powder that has been sitting opened for too long can become “deactivated” and your biscotti will be flat and overly hard.
• Salt (1 pinch) – as we always mention, fine sea salt is of course our favorite.

How to make biscotti step by step

In just a few simple steps you can create your own delicious homemade biscotti recipe, keep reading for step-by-step instructions.

• Preheat the oven to 350° F / 180° C.
• Put the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, orange zest, salt and vanilla into a medium sized bowl. Stir together with a fork until well blended. photo 1
• Now stir in the flour and baking powder, still using the fork. photo 2
  
• Knead the biscotti dough for a minute or two until the dough is smooth and uniform. If the dough is sticking to your hands, sprinkle in a small amount of additional flour. photo 3 and 4
  
• Add the whole almonds to the dough and knead them in until uniform. photo 5
  
• Now divide the dough in half photo 6. Using a small amount of flour, shape the dough into two long strips/logs of about 3 cm / 1 inch wide directly on a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). Do not flatten the logs as you want them to maintain the height when baking. photo 7
  
• The oven temperature should be reached, so place the cookie sheet on the middle part of the oven and bake for about 16 minutes. The cookie dough should rise slightly as it bakes.
• Remove from the oven and let the logs cool slightly, then cut each log crosswise into individual biscotti of about 2 cm / 0.75 in thick. photo 8
• Place each biscotti on its side and do a second bake of 4 minutes on one side. Then turn all the biscotti over and bake a third time, this time for 4 minutes as well.
  
• Remove from the oven and let the biscotti cool completely. It is important to let them sit at room temperature uncovered so that they develop the right texture and hardness and will store for a longer period of time.
• You can serve the biscotti after they have cooled with some delicious Vin Santo sweet dessert wine, coffee or tea.

Expert tips for making delicious biscotti

• Don’t smash it down! Be sure not to flatten the dough you have formed into a log/strip as you want it to maintain its height when baking (and even puff up a bit).
• Let them sit out. Be sure to let your biscotti sit out to cool completely for several hours or even overnight. If you put them in an airtight or sealed container too soon they will get mushy and you won’t be able to store them for as long because they will retain too much humidity.

Biscotti variations you can try

There are so many variations of biscotti we can’t possibly list them all here, but we will tell you a few of our absolute favorites.

• Go chocolatey. If you are a chocolate lover, you can either substitute half or all the almonds with the same amount of mini chocolate chips (you can even try white chocolate chips if that is your preference).
• Dip them in chocolate. You can add a step by dipping half of each baked cookie in melted chocolate. You will need about 200 grams/0.5 lbs of dark chocolate that you then melt in a bain-marie. Once the chocolate has fully melted, dip one half of each cookie into the melted chocolate and then place it on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and let the chocolate cool and harden before serving.
• Add your favorite dried fruit. Another delicious addition to this recipe is fruit. You can substitute the almonds with the same amount of dried fruit such as dried cranberries.

Enjoy your biscotti with one of these Italian drinks:

• Homemade Limoncello
• Refreshing Aperol Spritz
• Americano co*cktail

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