Almond Flour Biscotti
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My almond flour biscotti are crisp, chewy, and studded with pistachios and tender cranberries. They’re made in one bowl, and yes, they’re dunkable!
I was raised in a house where biscotti was a holiday staple. My mom would make a batch every week, and I think she was the one eating most of them!
She liked to test new versions of her classic gluten-free biscotti, and one of my favorites was her almond biscotti recipe. Now that I’m hosting Christmas this year, I can’t wait to make them.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Naturally sweetened with honey. Honey adds a subtle earthiness and gives the biscotti a gorgeous golden color.
- Fun to customize. My base recipe has pistachios and cranberries, but you can make a variety of other flavors. I’ll explain more later on.
- Perfect for dunking. I prefer black coffee since the biscotti are fairly sweet, but almond milk hot chocolate works too!
- Crispy, crunchy, and snappable. Just like this classic Italian cookie should be!
- Naturally gluten-free. And I’ll even give you tips on making them vegan.
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. Not all almond flours are created equal, so stick with blanched almond flour instead of almond meal, which is made with flecks of almond skin and yields a darker, crumbly consistency.
- Pistachios and almonds. You can use just one or the other if you prefer.
- Baking soda. Gives the biscotti some rise and leavening.
- Salt. Elevates the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Cinnamon. For a delicate cinnamon flavor.
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs are best.
- Honey. For natural sweetness and moisture. Agave nectar can also be used, but I found maple syrup to be overpowering.
- Butter. Stick with unsalted butter softened to room temperature (since we’re already adding salt).
- Almond extract. To enhance the almond flavor! Alternatively, use vanilla extract.
- Dried cranberries. Optional, but I like them for flavor and color. Make sure they’re unsweetened.
How to make biscotti with almond flour
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven.
Step 2- Mix the dough. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In another large bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Gently whisk the dry into the wet and mix until you have a smooth dough. Fold in the cranberries.
Step 3- Shape. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Form two rectangular loaves about 1 inch in thickness.
Step 4- Bake. Place the loaves on the pan and bake until golden. It’s okay if the biscotti isn’t super crispy yet. Let them cool briefly, and reduce the oven heat.
Step 5- Second bake. Slice the loaves into equal slices and place them on the baking sheet. Bake until golden and crisp. Let them cool on a wire rack.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make them vegan. Substitute the eggs for flax eggs (1 tablespoon of flax seed with 3 tablespoons of water per egg), use dairy-free butter and milk, and sub honey for agave.
- Adjust the bake time. Biscotti is a very forgiving recipe, and you can make them as thin, thick, long, or small as you desire. Just remember, the thinner you slice them, the less cooking time they’ll need.
- Use a sharp, serrated knife to slice the biscotti for the second bake.
- Don’t crank up the heat! As tempting as it may be, you need the second bake to be at a lower temperature. Almond flour can easily develop a burnt taste if overbaked.
- Prefer shiny biscotti? Brush a beaten egg over the loaf before slicing it.
Variations
- Chocolate. Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder and increase the honey by 2 tablespoons. Omit the dried fruit.
- Cranberry orange. Sub out half the nuts with extra cranberries and add 1 teaspoon of orange extract and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.
- Chocolate covered. Dip each of the biscotti in melted dark chocolate chips.
- Espresso. Add 1 teaspoon of espresso extract and omit the cranberries.
- Lemon. Add 2 tablespoons lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of lemon extract.
Storage instructions
To store: Store leftover biscotti at room temperature in a sealed container for 1 month.
To freeze: Place the biscotti in a ziplock bag and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight.
Frequently asked questions
Traditional biscotti gets its crispy texture from being twice-baked and thinly sliced. This yields extra crunchy cookies.
If you use my keto honey as your sugar substitute, then yes, this can be considered keto biscotti as it is low carb. For even fewer carbs, omit the dried cranberries.
More holiday desserts
- Gluten-free Christmas cookies
- Peanut brittle
- Gingerbread blondies
- Prefer to bake with almond flour? Try my almond flour sugar cookies, almond flour cupcakes, and almond flour cake next.
Almond Flour Biscotti
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups almond flour blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pistachios sliced * See notes
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract can use vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients until combined. Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet, until fully incorporated. Fold through your cranberries at the end.
- Lightly flour a kitchen surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and form two equal portions. Using your hands, form two rectangular loaves, 1-inch in size.
- Place the two loaves on the lined pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.
- Remove the loaves from the oven and let them cool for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 120C/250F.
- Slice up the two loaves into 1/2-inch biscotti, and place them on the lined baking sheet. Bake the biscotti for an additional 30 minutes per side.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely. This will firm up beautifully.
Arman… I am so thrilled your recipe was the first to pop up on my search. I LOVE Biscotti and have a reaction to Gluten. Oddly, it locks up my wrists and ankles, and is excruciatingly painful.
I can’t wait to try these and the pistachios, well that just makes my day. I am going to dip them into melted Lily’s Dark Chocolate to keep these allowable with my total health plan. I am on my 4th year of recovering what too many medications destroyed internally, which I had to take for just about 7 yrs. So, there is a lot of damage to repair. Thankfully, I found the one doctor who has been able to help me. It has been an incredible journey.
That’s just the surface story of my journey… and beginning in January I begin again on a 32 week program…
So, wishing you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
BTW: TODAY is my Birthday and I am 70 yrs old. This is HUGE since I should have died in 1993, but, once again… God intervened in my life and after walking thru all I did for 7 yrs, He healed my body and I celebrated 23 yrs of LIFE just last month!
GOD BLESS!!!
Wow, Cynthia!!!! I’m so so happy for you and this makes so so happy to hear. Here’s to many, many more years.
xx
Is the cookie dough suppose to be sticky?? I used 3 1/2 c almond flour but hopefully they’ll turn out good and no t spread thinly
Hello Rosetta! Yes, it is meant to be a bit sticky. I tested this recipe with a dough that’s softer and stickier than traditional wheat-based biscotti, as almond flour behaves very differently. Using 3½ cups should help with shaping, and the dough shouldn’t spread much as it bakes. Even if it feels slightly tacky, it should still bake up just fine.
My aunt’s name was Cynthia Robinson Hardy! I’m so happy to hear that you found a sympathetic doctor and a new way of living! We are the same age, too. Here’s to many good years ahead for both of us!
Tried with Almond Butter instead of dairy butter. Came out OK, but the cooking time/temperature is a bit off. Would suggest watching Biscotti in oven vs. the time as they got brown too fast. Came out darker in color. Perhaps using almond butter versus dairy butter.
They look delicious.
Thanks, Frances!
I adore this recipe!
Thanks so much, Rachel! Appreciate your lovely review and rating!
I wanted to love this but…..never baked with almond flour before, after 15 min of baking the loaves were quite golden so removed from oven and let cool. Very undercooked inside after slicing, so 2nd bake I left in oven longer, even raised temperature to 325, but still underbaked. Definitely not crunchy. Followed recipe exactly. Wish I had success, my flour biscotti are excellent!
Hi Sandra! Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry this one was frustrating. You didn’t do anything wrong. After hearing feedback like yours, especially from people new to almond flour baking, I went back and retested the recipe and realized the original first bake time was too short. Almond flour browns quickly on the outside while staying undercooked inside, which can be misleading. I’ve since updated the recipe to reflect a longer first bake so the logs are fully set before slicing, and clearer guidance on the second bake so they have time to properly dry out and crisp. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment, and I hope you’ll give the updated version a try if you’re feeling up for it.
Hi there,
Thank you for the nice recipe. Is there any other substitute for Eggs as I don’t eat eggs.
Thank you Sheetal
I havent tried any but you are welcome to experiment and see 🙂 Please let me know if you have success.
You could try to use flax seed/meal with water or the aquafaba from canned garbanzo beans.
Garbanzo bean liquid is an egg substitute. Check it out.
Thanks!! LOVE you
Tack så mycket för dina recept!!! De är gätte goda!!!!
Hi Arman, would I be able to switch out the almond flour, in the Almond Flour Biscotti recipe, for Bob’s Red Mill Paleo flour? Thank you very much. Sincerely, Russell Appelt
Hi Russell- I haven’t tried but you are welcome to experiment and see 🙂
Excellent
Arman, thank you so much for this absolutely delicious recipe! Excellent flavor and crumb!
After reading the comments and seeing how some had softer cookies, I just cooked each bake longer and even lowered the oven a third time for ten more minutes to get that crispy and dunkable biscotti I so crave! Just perfect 🤩
(I did add 1/2 tsp of xanthin, diced 4 dried figs instead of cranberries, zest of a huge Meyer lemon 🍋 I had growing, and threw in some 75% cocoa chips. Left the rest of recipe just as is and I’m so happy I found this one! Bravo🤩)💫
It will be my new “go-to” for Biscotti!
Will be trying with chickpea flour (can’t do almonds) and coconut palm sugar. Will follow up!
Very good with coffee!
This recipe turn out GREAT! We really enjoyed these. The only suggestion I would say is that this recipe says to use “soft” butter, but it didn’t mix well. So I checked out several other almond flour biscotti recipes and all of them instructed to “melt” the butter. Once I did that, I didn’t have much issue. I had to bake it a little longer than it said to, but I didn’t feel like that was a problem. 🙂
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 I’m really glad you enjoyed them. That’s a great observation about the butter. I tested the recipe using softened butter, but almond flour doughs can be less forgiving than wheat-based ones, so melting the butter can definitely make mixing easier and more uniform. Needing a bit longer bake time is also very common with almond flour, and I appreciate you mentioning that it worked well with that adjustment. Your feedback is really helpful for others making the recipe, so thank you for taking the time to comment.
Merci
Do you think this recipe would work with an egg substitute? It’s hard to find eggless keto recipes but I have an allergy.
I haven’t tried, you are welcome to experiment and see
Wow I must stay it’s a easy n amazing recipe thank you for sharing Godbless my family just loved it..