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!
PrintDark 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 flour (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 oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk or water
- two 4 ounce (226g) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate bars, coarsely chopped*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) 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 is 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, knead 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 half 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. Remove from the oven, but do not turn off the heat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Once the slabs are cool enough to handle, cut each into 1 inch thick slices. Set slices cut sides upright, ¼ inch apart, on the baking sheets. Return to the oven to continue baking for 8 minutes. Turn biscotti 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. 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. 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.
Do you think these could be made without the butter? I usually do not add butter to my biscotti?
Hi Dana! We really love the flaky texture butter adds to this biscotti. Let us know if you give our recipe a try!
Not sure what I did wrong! The dough was extremely sticky and I kept adding flour to my hands and the table and the dough! BUT they came out sooooo delicious and beautiful l! I couldn’t believe I made them! Thank you for the recipe! I’ll try it again, and make sure I measure carefully! Lol!
I didn’t have success with this recipe at all unfortunately and I consider myself an ok baker.
Like many others I too hard problems with the dough. My butter was cold and straight from the fridge. I added some extra flour but found the texture of the biscotti unappealing once cooked. Kind of raw dough tasting. I also baked longer at all stages S they looked too under done. Disaster really.
Is this baking chocolate or a chocolate candy bar being melted for the topping?
Hi Dawn, we use and recommend pure baking chocolate bars for dipping the biscotti.
I’m always trying to add whole grains to things and used 1 c. White whole wheat flour and 1&1/3 c AP flour. Certainly eliminated the unworkable stickiness of the dough! I also used toasted almonds rather than walnuts. I only had mandarins and destroyed 3 for 1 T zest. Sally, the egg wash on your biscotti recipes is genius!! I use 1/2&1/2 and it makes them beautiful!! Thank you and your team so much! *everyone should try the white choc, pistachio, cranberry biscotti recipe. Ooh, la, la!
I’ve never made biscotti but your step by step instructions were were easy to follow and the end result was the most tasty biscotti I think I’ve ever had. The dark chocolate and orange flavors with the nuts was a perfect combination. Can’t wait for after dinner coffee on thanksgiving to share with the family. Thanks, Sally!
Great taste. Had to add just a little bit more flour to shape dough
Can you use milk chocolate instead?
Hi George, That should be fine! Enjoy.
I made these dark chocolate biscotti by subbing 1/2 c Dutch Process cocoa for 1/2 cup of the flour, used chopped honey almonds, added 1/3 cacao nibs and almond extract with the orange extract and zest and they were amazing! (Also needed to add about 1/2c extra flour at end to get it workable).
I know this is done by hand so as not to overwork the dough, but it turned them into a disaster for me. It must have been my butter-cutting-in lack of skill that left them not blended enough. They were underdone in the middle and kind of tasteless. Irony is I’m a very good baker and have been making everyone’s favorite biscotti since the ’90s. I’ve always made classic biscotti (no butter or oil) and I guess I should go back to that! Guess my input here is: make sure you cut the butter in to the point where there are no butter lumps visible.
Uh oh all my butter is visible it was too cold to blend in
I just made these and I only dipped half of them in the chocolate. The plain ones are delicious too.
I had trouble with the dough also. I ended up adding at least another half cup of flour.
I would like harder/crunchier biscotti. How do I do that?
Hi Nonna! For crunchier biscotti, you can simply increase the bake time. Glad you enjoyed them!
I’m having a huge issue with the dough consistency. It DID say that you might have to add more flour, after turning it out, but after, like a cup added in it was still like cold goop. I might have just done something wrong, but the other recipes come together so easily? Anyone have suggestions?
Hi Jeremy, Thanks for trying this recipe and we are happy to troubleshoot. Did you make any ingredient substitutions? I wonder if the butter became too warm as you were cutting it into the dry ingredients? This could create a much wetter dough. Make sure the butter is very cold. You could even refrigerate the dry ingredients for 10-15 minutes before cutting in the cold butter.
These were really easy and good! I followed the recipe with the exception of using chopped hazelnuts instead of walnuts. The orange flavor wasn’t super pronounced, so next time I will definitely include more zest. I didn’t measure the zest but I used one orange, and it may have produced less than 2 tbsp. I would also halve the chocolate as it was more than enough to coat the bottom of each biscotti. I ended up using the extra as a drizzle on top, but it’s probably overkill. Finally, like other posters, I needed a lot more flour to make the dough manageable. Otherwise these were delicious and I’ll definitely make them again!
Hi Sally.
I just want to clarify: This recipe has 3 eggs added to the dough plus one egg for egg wash? 4 eggs total to make recipe?
Hi Stephanie, That’s correct! Enjoy
These are delicious and simple to prepare and bake. I used hazelnuts instead of walnuts but otherwised followed the receipe exactly. I will make these again but use a bit less sugar next time as the orange juice sweetens it up a bit and i prefer a milder sweetness in my biscotti.
These came out as described – the delicious orange flavour pairs beautifully with dark chocolate. The texture of these biscotti is firm, but won’t break your teeth. I did not have issues with wet dough, but I did not work the dough very long (like a scone recipe I left the butter in little chunks). Along with the walnuts, I added some leftover candied orange peel that I had made for my stollen loaves. These are super holiday treats – thank you!
HI, Dee again, I hope you have a chance to answer this before this Christmas… I live in Florida. I have heard before that baking here can be difficult. I’m 74 and my friend is around the same age and we have been baking for quite a few years. We’re from Michigan.
We never had a problem with cookies or breads there. Last year all of our cookies came out messy! Today I made this recipe. It was so wet. I added about another cup or more to it and it still was a sticky mess and went on the pan very flat. Do you have any suggestions ? I’m completely at a loss! Want to make this in another flavor but am not sure what to do to fix this recipe. I love all your recipes ! I have gone to using only your site because they taste great and usually come out right. I tell everyone about you. If you have any suggestions I would truly appreciate any help. Need to get this right for the future as biscotti is a family favorite.
Thank you for any help.
Hi Dee, I can definitely help troubleshoot. I wonder if the butter became too warm as you were cutting it into the dry ingredients? This could create a much wetter dough. Make sure the butter is very cold. You could even refrigerate the dry ingredients for 10-15 minutes before cutting in the cold butter. What could also help is adding more flour, such as 1/4 cup (about 30-35g). In warmer or humid environments, a little more flour is always helpful.
can i use fresh squeezed orange juice?
Absolutely!
Going to a friends to bake Christmas cookies – can I make the dough ahead of time and put in refrigerator? Bring to room temp before baking?
Hi Barbara, absolutely. You can make and shape the dough (through step 3) and chill in the refrigerator. Up to a couple days, covered, would be fine. Bring to room temperature before baking.
The dough is so sticky! We measured exactly as I am a baker. Not good. Added more flour . Very sticky dough
Would the cooking time shorten if I were to split the dough into 4 slabs to make a smaller biscotti?
Hi Cat, bake time should be slightly shorter for smaller slabs. Enjoy!
is it possible to you my kitchen aid mixer?
or will it not come out properly ?
does it have to be made by hand ?
Hi Jessica, making it by hand ensures that the butter isn’t overworked into the dough (similar to how we cut it into pie crust). You could use a mixer, but it’s much easier to overwork the dough. Best to do so by hand if you can!
Hi I love biscotti and thinking about making this recipe. I have a large toaster oven. Should I adjust my baking temp/time. ?
Hi Rose, we haven’t tried making this biscotti in a toaster oven so we’re unsure how best to adjust the baking time and temperature. We’d keep a very close eye on it!
delicious! I added dried mulberries and walnuts – made a beautiful biscotti! Thank you!
Delicious! One of the best things I’ve ever baked
Super simple recipe turned out amazing! This was the first time iv made Biscotti! They were a huge hit with my friends and fmaily!
Even if I forget to slpit the dough…
Can this be frozen? (I’m assuming you would freeze the biscotti, forefront, then apply the chocolate?)
Hi Jaime, you sure can. See recipe notes for freezing details!
Hi! I am excited to make these, as I love the combination of chocolate and orange. I was wondering, do the eggs need to be cold as the butter or room temperature?
Hi Madeleine, for best results use room temperature eggs. Happy baking!
Hey, sorry if I’m being daft but what do you mean by semi sweet chocolate. I’m from the UK so we have dark, white and milk. Would it be dark?
Thanks:)
Hi Emma-Louise! Semi sweet chocolate has about 60% cacao, it would be closer to dark chocolate. Enjoy!
Hi Sally,
I too had a terrible time with the dough. I probably ended up adding an additional third of a cup of flour to make it workable, and even though could only get it into logs after putting it back in the fridge for half an hour.
I am starting the chocolate dipping (for the first time!) shortly. I’m nervous about using the chocolate bars I bought. Do they firm up again without refrigerating? What is the difference between just doing this and tempering chocolate?
Thanks!
Hi Laura! Yes, the chocolate will firm up as it cools. You’re welcome to temper the chocolate if you prefer a more snappy and glossy finish. Enjoy!
Can the biscotti recipes be doubled? If so are there any adjustments to the ingredient amounts?
Hi Sue, yes you can double this recipe, but for ideal taste and texture, it’s best to make separate batches. Enjoy!
best biscotti i’ve ever made (and i’ve made a lot)
my boyfriend has celiac disease so i actually turned these gluten free. i replaced the flour with Bob’s Red Mill cup for cup baking flour and they came out amazing! the texture is perfection and the flavor is beyond!
will definitely use this recipe as a staple!
I was thinking of making them gluten free, with almond flour wonder how they would come out
Very happy I read through and saw this. A coworker has celiac‘s and dairy free so it’s always a 50/50 draw of whatever will turn out. Glad they turned out so ima give it to but I think I’ll replace the walnuts with almonds and the orange with blood orange
Made these with hazelnuts instead of walnuts. Everything went as planned which is not always the case with biscotti. The cook times are for a softer biscotti so next time I will add a few minutes to the second bake as you suggest. For those who are having trouble working with the wet dough….I find “slapping” the dough into submission with floury hands works better then kneading or shaping. And you only need 1 baking sheet if you are are using a very large one. Thank you, this is a keeper.
I made these today and they are delicious. I know I can depend on you, Sally! I added homemade candied orange peel along with the fresh and Almonds instead of walnuts. I also added a 1/8 c heavy cream on top of OJ.
They are fabulous!
I made the Dark Chocolate Orange Biscotti recipe this afternoon. I admit that I was a bit panicky when the dough was so very loose and sticky. I added more flour but not enough for it to look like your firm dough. However, the biscotti turned out beautifully and is delicious. I have so much fun trying your recipes, Sally.