Christmas Biscotti
These pistachio, cranberry, almond and white chocolate Christmas Biscotti are so festive and great for gifts.
When your family is Italian, Biscotti are life. No Christmas or festive event is complete without some homemade biscotti and a fresh pot of Italian espresso to dunk them in. My Zia, or Aunty, is the queen of Italian biscuit making. When we’d do our Christmas visits as kids, there was always a giant container filled with almond biscotti to munch on. And we hit the biscuits with gusto.
I can’t believe I haven’t shared a Christmas Biscotti recipe yet on The Cake Mistress. For shame. So finally, I’ve made some Festive Christmas Biscotti for you.
The original traditional Italian Biscotti recipe is quite plain by today’s standards, flavoured with just pine nuts and almonds. Biscotti are baked as one oblong loaf, then cut into slices and re-baked for crunch. The best recipes continue this method today but have become more adventurous in their flavours.
I’ve thrown everything flavourful and festive into my biscotti. Inside the Christmas biscotti are pistachios, cranberries, white chocolate and almonds. If you love very crispy and crunchy Biscotti, then cut the slices from the loaf thinner and bake them for longer in the oven.
Christmas Biscotti are perfect at the end of a meal along with a steaming pot of coffee, or even some liqueur. Because the biscotti are fairly dry, most Italians dunk them into their drinks.
You could package up these Christmas Biscotti as edible Christmas gifts for friends and family. They can be made and packaged two weeks ahead of time at least, as long as they are stored in an airtight container.
HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS BISCOTTI
Click to watch how to make Christmas Biscotti
CHRISTMAS BISCOTTI
Makes, about 40 Biscotti
Difficulty: Easy
EQUIPMENT:
Two large baking trays
INGREDIENTS:
250g Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
250g Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 pinch Salt
600g Plain Flour
75g Cranberries
75g Blanched Almonds, chopped
75g Pistachios, chopped
150g White Chocolate, chopped
METHOD:
Add the softened butter, sugar and vanilla to a large bowl. Cream them together with electric beaters until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the salt.
Stir in the flour. Add the cranberries, almonds, pistachios and white chocolate and spread them through the dough evenly.
Sprinkle some flour on the bench to stop the dough from sticking. Spread the dough into a flat rectangle the size of A4 paper. Roll, knead and press it to shape.
Cover the rectangle of dough in plastic film and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan-forced; 350F). Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half down the middle to form two long loaves. Round the edges.
Place each loaf on a separate baking tray. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake from about 35 minutes.
Remove it from the oven. Let it cool briefly for about 10 minutes. Then cut the loaf into 2cm thick slices. Place the slices back on the baking tray and bake for another 8-10 minutes. You might like to turn the biscotti pieces half-way through to get an even toasty colour on both sides.
Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.
BAKING TIPS:
- Store the Biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
- You can substitute in any flavours you like. Try different nut and dried fruit combinations.
Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver Christmas
| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 40biscotti | 40mins | 45mins | 2hrs |
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 40biscotti | 40mins |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 45mins | 2hrs |
- 250 g Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
- 250 g Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs lightly beaten
- 1 pinch Salt
- 600 g Plain Flour
- 75 g dried Cranberries
- 75 g blanched Almonds chopped
- 75 g Shelled Pistachios chopped
- 150 g White Chocolate chopped
Ingredients
Servings: biscotti Units: |
- Add the softened butter, sugar and vanilla to a large bowl. Cream them together with electric beaters until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the salt.
- Stir in the flour. Add the cranberries, almonds, pistachios and white chocolate and spread them through the dough evenly.
- Sprinkle some flour on the bench to stop the dough from sticking. Spread the dough into a flat rectangle the size of A4 paper. Roll, knead and press it to shape.
- Cover the rectangle of dough in plastic film and let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan-forced; 350F). Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half down the middle to form two long loaves. Round the edges.
- Place each loaf on a separate baking tray. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake from about 35 minutes.
- Remove it from the oven. Let it cool briefly for about 10 minutes. Then cut the loaf into 2cm thick slices. Place the slices back on the baking tray and bake for another 8-10 minutes. You might like to turn the biscotti pieces half-way through to get an even toasty colour on both sides.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Store the Biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.
- You can substitute in any flavours you like. Try different nut and dried fruit combinations.
You might like our other Christmas Recipes like Christmas Pinwheel Cookies, Lebkuchen Cookie Christmas Trees, Panforte, Traditional Christmas Pudding, and no-bake Rum Balls.
Like these Christmas Biscotti? Spread the word!
