Not all biscotti are created equal and there is no one perfect way to make it, but I found my favorite. And it’s unlike any biscotti I’ve ever tasted before. Crunchy without breaking your teeth, crumbly in all the best ways, melts in your mouth, and super flavorful with a brown-sugar base. This, my friends, is my best base recipe for biscotti.
From this base recipe, I’ve done chocolate almond biscotti, mocha chip biscotti, and my favorite: white chocolate cranberry pistachio biscotti. Maybe you prefer biscotti plain? Just add a sprinkle of cinnamon. To be honest, this biscotti tastes incredible with as much stuff or as little stuff as you want. But I like the stuff. And today we’re adding walnuts, lots of zippy orange zest, and plenty of dark chocolate.
So you get an idea of how the process works, here’s a video:
The general layout of biscotti making:
- make biscotti dough
- divide in half
- flatten into two slabs
- bake
- slice
- bake a little longer
Let’s start with the biscotti dough. Traditionally, the only wet ingredient in biscotti is egg, but I like to add a little butter and oil for a more flavorful and rich cookie. The butter is worked into the dough the same way I add it to scones, pie crust, and biscuits. Cold and cut into the dry ingredients. What’s the point? This method ensures that the butter doesn’t melt in the dough prior to baking. Instead, the cold butter will melt in the oven. This helps create pockets of crumbly flakes.
You only need 1 Tablespoon of oil, but it really does make a difference. Less teeth-breaky. What else? I sweeten the biscotti with brown sugar and add just enough baking powder for a little lift. Today’s goodies are cinnamon + orange zest + fresh OJ + walnuts, so add those too.
Divide the biscotti dough in half, then shape into 2 long slabs. Brush with an egg wash. Why an egg wash? To make the tops super shiny and delightfully crisp. Bake the slabs on separate baking sheets so they have enough breathing room. You can just bake both sheets in the oven at once.
Bake Twice!
Now here’s what makes biscotti so unique. It’s baked twice! After the slabs bake for about 25 minutes, cut into slices, then bake the cookies for 8 minutes on each side. That’s a total oven time of 40-45 minutes. Sounds like that length of time would dry out a cookie, no? That’s why we add butter and a smidge of oil. Our biscotti will be crunchy, but the fat guarantees it won’t taste dry.
A generous dunk into dark chocolate finishes things off in the fanciest way possible. By the way, this type of chocolate dunk is the best type of chocolate dunk. I used to only dip one end of these chocolate almond biscotti into chocolate, but that’s clearly wrong.
Each bite should be a chocolate bite!!
If you like biscotti (cool kid!) and you’re intimidated to try it at home or if you don’t like biscotti because you, too, think it tastes like cardboard sticks… I encourage you to try my biscotti recipe. You don’t need to chill the dough, no need for a rolling pin (save it for your pie crust and sugar cookies), no mixer required, and no cookie cutters involved!
And this concludes my 5th annual cookie palooza. I feel our cookie sheets and mixers deserve a major break after this, but we all know that won’t happen. Happy baking!!
See all cookie palooza recipes. And here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips. So many cookies, so little time!
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Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
No more dry or bland biscotti, this dark chocolate orange biscotti has so much flavor!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled), plus more for work surface + hands
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- zest from 1 orange (about 2 scant Tbsp)
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 3/4 cup (95g) chopped walnuts*
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) canola or vegetable oilย (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- egg wash:ย 1 large egg beatenย with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk or water
- two 4 ounce (226g) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate bars, coarsely chopped*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC).ย Line twoย large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.ย (Always recommendedย for cookies.)ย Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and orange zest together in a large bowl until combined. Using a pastry cutter or 2 forks, cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the walnuts. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, orange juice, oil, and vanilla extract together. Pour into the flour/butter mixture and gently mix together until everything isย just barely moistened.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and with floured hands, knead lightly until the dough is soft and slightly sticky, about 8-10 times. If it’s uncontrollably sticky, kneadย 1-2 more Tablespoon(s) of flour into the dough. Divide the dough in two and place each half onto a baking sheet. Shape each halfย into an 8×4-inch long rectangle, patting down until each is about 1/2 inch thick. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top and sides of each biscotti slab with egg wash.
- Bake for 25-26 minutes, or until the top and sides of the biscotti slabs are lightly browned.ย Remove from the oven, but do not turn off the heat. Allowย to cool for 10 minutes. Once the slabs are cool enough to handle, cut eachย intoย 1 inchย thick slices. Setย slices cut sides upright, ยผ inch apart, on theย bakingย sheets.ย Return to the oven to continue baking for 8 minutes.ย Turn biscottiย over and bake other side for 8 minutes. The cookies will be slightly soft in the centers with harder edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before dipping in chocolate. The biscotti becomes crunchy as it cools.ย Save the baking sheets for the next step.
- Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler or (carefully!) use the microwave. For the microwave, place the chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl.ย Melt in 15 second increments, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip each biscotti cookie in the melted chocolate and place back onto the baking sheets. Sprinkle with any additional orange zest if desired. Allow chocolate to set in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Biscotti will stay fresh covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Biscotti can be frozen for up to 3 months, with or without chocolate. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before dipping in chocolate and/or serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Pastry Cutter | Pastry Brush | Cooling Rack | Double Boiler (optional for melting chocolate) | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester
- Nuts: You can leave out the walnuts or replace with another type of nut. Or try 3/4 cup of dried cranberries instead!
- Chocolate: Chocolate bars are typically sold in 4 ounce bars. I suggest Ghirardelli, Baker’s brand, or Lindt. You can use chocolate chips, but they don’t melt down as smoothly.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This is the first time I’ve biscotti and it turned out excellent. I read comments before making it so I was ready for very sticky dough. I ended up adding 2 extra tbs of flour like sally suggested but it was still sticky. I didn’t kneed the dough with my hands I just used a rubber spatula to mix it and then used the spatula to scoop it onto the tray and form it into two disks. It was perfect
I’ve had success with biscotti before, and I love orange and chocolate, so I’m excited about Have to say, I agree with all here who were a little overwhelmed by the stickiness of the dough, though! I didn’t want to add too much flour, but I had no choice if I didn’t just want to basically smear goo all over my work surface. Makes me feel better to know that I’m not the only one; I thought that maybe I had mismeasured! These are tasty, but with the mess, they probably won’t be one that I make very often.
Sally
Long time Sally recipe enthusiast. Was skeptical when I read negative reviews, so I was thrilled when the biscotti turned out great! Yes, the dough was sticky. Super sticky. But I used silicone spatulas to maneuver it into my biscotti pan and spread it. No substitutions in the recipe. For anyone else with a biscotti pan, I used the entire recipe amount for one pan. The initial bake time was 30 minutes, followed by nine minutes on each side on a cookie sheet, although I would probably do 10 minutes. I was rushing it last night. I only melted one 4 ounce chocolate bar and did chocolate side dip on half and chocolate drizzle on top of half of the 14 slices. They look like coffee shop biscotti, but are softer and delicious. Canโt taste the orange as much as Iโd like, so Iโll add orange flavoring to the chocolate next time.
I haven’t made these yet and don’t usually post before I do. These sound wonderful and the combination of chocolate and orange is classic but I have just one question. Can I use chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate bars) in the dough instead of dipping in chocolate? We are not big on coatings or glazes but we LOVE chocolate. Thank you Sally, for keeping my oven busy yet again with another wonderful sounding recipe.
Hi Shelly, absolutely! We would add 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the dough.
Iโve never had a recipe from this site not turn out but this one sadly did not. I wonder if itโs suppose to say baking soda? It was like the wet to dry ratio was off. It had a cake like texture. Iโm so confused, I went over ingredients I used, measuring spoons etc. the dough spread everywhere.
Can you skip the egg wash?
Hi Nancy! You can, but they will lose their shine and some of the color.
Sally are your oven temperatures for a normal oven or fan oven? I have a fan oven. I need to know whether to reduce the temperature or not. Thank you
Hi Sharon! We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Did a test run before the holidays. Glad I did. Disappointingly bland. The mechanics were fine, although a bit understated in time involved. More like 1hr for cooking, given the breaks between, then at least 2 hours for cooling, dipping, decorating, setting. Thank you all the same.
Do not waste your money buying ingredients for this!! Itโs a bad recipe.
Wow, this was the first of your recipes that just did not turn out for me. The dough was far too wet to knead or shape, even after adding some additional flour. I tried the recipe twice, and it came out the same both times.
Thank you for this recipe, it’s excellent. I did swap half the walnuts for couverture dark chocolate buttons and white wine instead of orange juice. They were very popular after dinner.
Was so delicious and crispy right out of the oven! However, by the next day, it became soft. Any way to prevent that from happening?
Hi Dushyanthi, when storing, you can leave the bag/container open just a crack, which will help prevent moisture from forming inside which may be making the biscotti a bit soft. So glad you enjoyed this!
Delicious! Made them for my office and they were gone quickly with many compliments. I left out the dark chocolate, to feature the other flavours, but imagine it goes well with the vivid orange flavour and will try it next time.
5 stars for the flavor and texture of these biscotti. The finished product got rave reviews, and they are absolutely delicious. I subbed Boyajian orange oil instead of orange juice bc I love the flavor and potency. I added a little bit of the oil into the melted chocolate for an extra citrusy kick as well. Highly recommend.
However, Iโm ticking off a star because, truthfully, Iโd give the recipeโs process 1 star. I canโt understand how this is ever workable enough to knead. I added 1/2 a cup of extra flour as I was trying, and the dough was so sticky and soft I would have needed to add over a cup of extra flour. I ended up giving up the kneading, and I used a flour coated rubber spatula to scrape the dough off the work surface, place on my baking sheets, and shape into the size needed. It was an extremely not-fun recipe to make. Iโll try again with extra flour and see how it goes!
I made this recipe yesterday and they came out great. I will say though that I had to use at least a cup (probably more) of flour in order to make the dough workable. Other than that they came out great!
I made this recipe yesterday and they came out great. I will say though that I had to use at least a cup (probably more) in order to make the dough workable. Other than that they came out great!
We tried this recipe. We aren’t exactly novice bakers but we still need directions and help. In the ingredients it lists 3 eggs, and in the directions it says add eggs….so we did. ….until we realized that one of the eggs for for the wash. We know the first rule of baking is to read the whole recipe twice before starting…..but I don’t know if that would have helped. Maybe in the ingredient lists you could split them up in parentheses.
Hi Mary, we’re so sorry for any confusion! You will use 3 whole large eggs in the dough as listed. Then you will need an additional egg for the egg wash. So, 4 eggs total. Thank you for giving this one a try!
This is such a forgiving recipe! I would not consider myself an experienced baker and have never attempted biscotti before. I thought I flubbed my first batch because the dough was super sticky and I had to add a lot more flour than called for. They turned out great! I doubled my second batch (even though I read the comment that it would be best to do single batches) and I used my stand mixer. The final result turned out even better than the first batch.
These are on the favourite list! I baked mine the second time for 10min as I like them a little crunchier. I found that for the first bake the loaves spread quite a bit but not a big deal at all. I really loves these!
Dark chocolate and orange? OMG (drools) !
I’d like to put these on my Xmas trays for friends, but a couple have severe nut allergies. Any suggestions as to what else I could use, for some textural crunch? I DID read that Autumn, on October 27/23 said she just omitted them, so I suppose I could probably do the same, but…I’d really like some crunch.
Thanks so much!
Hi Terry, in place of the nuts, how about pepitas or another favorite seed for some crunch? Or, while it’s not crunchy, dried cranberries are fantastic! You could also try sprinkling some coarse sugar on top of the chocolate dip for some added crunch. Let us know what you try!
Great recipe! I omitted the walnuts (we don’t like the crunch) and only did 6 minutes for the second bake and they cane out perfect. Will be making again!
I accidentally put in one extra TB of oil … AND … I totally forgot to put in the butter!!! Just forgot!!
Guess what?! They were STILL good! (and no, not too hard or too crunchy!)
First and foremost, I love your biscotti recipes. Theyโre my go gifts when visiting friends/relatives. Every time I try to make them though, the dough becomes super sticky and and almost unworkable at the end. Looking at the comments of other people, I noticed that โIs your butter cold enough?โ Was a common reply, so this time, between adding the butter and adding the wet ingredients, I put the bowl in the freezer for over an hour. I think it helped? A little? But Iโm wondering if Iโd get better results if I substituted part or all of the all-purpose flour with bread flour or whole wheat flour or something. (Iโm an amateur with no knowledge about the science of baking, please tell me if that would be a horrible mistake.)
Hi M, We are glad that you enjoy the biscotti recipes! If they are turning out well after they are baked, you aren’t doing anything wrong. The dough can certainly be quite sticky, make sure to use plenty of flour on your hands and work surface to help when working with it. If itโs super sticky to the point that it’s unworkable, itโs ok to add a bit more flour until its the texture you are used to! We haven’t tested it, but you can try substituting up to one cup of the flour with whole wheat flour – just keep in mind the texture and taste of the baked cookies will change.
I’ve made this recipe 3 times and every time, it has been a hit! No issues, just delicious! The perfect crunch that doesn’t break your teeth! I didn’t know I liked biscotti, because I always assumed it was supposed to be rock hard. Sally has shown me the way! Highly recommend!
Hi! I made this the first time without a hitch. I tried it again today, but it was gooey and I was unable to get the dough manageable. The only thing I can think of that was different was today I had to use extra large eggs. Would that make a difference?
Thanks
Hi Lisa, The dough is supposed to be a little sticky. I wonder if your butter was firm enough? You can add a couple more Tablespoons of flour if need be.
Great biscotti! Great instructions and everything came out perfectly! I received a lot of compliments! Delicious!!
I made these, the mocha chip, and the cranberry pistachio for my family’s “consumable Christmas.” UNREAL! We are having a hard time determining which one is the favorite — they are all delicious, thank you so very much for such a show-stopping, easy-to-follow recipe! For folks who struggled with a stickier, untenable dough – I found that 2 1/3 cups flour was the perfect amount for the base and then the heavy dusting of the work surface. Moving quickly also helped a bunch as I mastered the dough before it became too sticky. LOVE! Will be making again soon! Thank you and merry Christmas!