Traditional biscotti with chocolate and pistachios – perfect for dunking in your morning coffee. These delicious biscuits are also great gift, just wrap them up in a cellophane bag or a large jam jar and a pretty ribbon.

Despite what I originally thought, these biscotti were easy to bake and they tasted exactly like the ones in the shop. This chocolate and pistachio biscotti recipe is based on a traditional recipe which is double baked.

Why make chocolate & pistachio biscotti?

Makes great gift
Chocolate flavour is great on it’s own or you can add different nuts – pistachio, hazelnuts, walnuts or macadamia nuts
Easy to make (although it’s slightly time-consuming)

The origins of biscotti

The name ‘Biscotti’ comes from Latin and means ‘twice baked’. It is because, these biscuits are baked twice to get their crunchy, dry texture, which is perfect for dunking into the coffee.

The biscotti were favourite food of roman soldiers, who took them on their travels to conquests half the Europe. The reason is that once baked, the biscotti keeps well for a long time and there is not much, ingredients-wise, that can make them go off.

Biscotti were traditionally served in Italy with a glass of fortified wine and they meant to be dunked in. They would be originally served as a dessert. These days we are more likely to dunk them into a coffee than wine, but the delicious taste of the biscotti is still the same.

Top tips for making this recipe

If you can help it, don’t add too much extra flour to mix the dough (apart from what’s in the recipe already) as this can make the dough too heavy.
Don’t cut the chocolate biscotti until the dough is completely cold
It’s best not to rush the baking (drying) by increasing the oven temperature. You’ll just burn your biscuits.
To get a really good chocolate taste use a good quality cocoa powder

Ingredients & Possible Substitutions

Flour

I’ve used plain flour (cake or all purpose flour) for this recipe. I’ve not tried this recipe with gluten free flours, but I can imagine it could work really well. If you do decide to use gluten free flour, use a pre-mixed blend as this will have a better stability and add a large pinch of xanthan gum.

Ground Almonds

Ground almonds add lightness to the dough and make the biscotti beautifully crisp. Ground almonds are naturally gluten free, in case you decide to go down the gluten free route and swap the flour (there is no need to swap the ground almonds)

Eggs

Whilst I’m normally fan of swapping ingredients around and playing with the original recipe, I wouldn’t recommend to leave out or replace the eggs. In this recipe, the eggs provide the only moisture and they also bind the whole ingredients together. Without them, the biscotti would just fall appart.

Cocoa Powder

It’s best not to use any cocoa powder substitutions in this recipe and instead use the best quality cocoa powder for this chocolate and pistachio biscotti recipe. It really does make a difference.

Nuts

I’ve used pistachio nuts in this recipe, but hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts would work perfectly well too.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3
Add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
Next, add the ground almonds and whole pistachios and sugar and mix all together
Add the egg and mix it together first with a wooden spoon and then using your hands to bring the mixture together to form a smooth dough. It will be fairly tough dough, but that’s fine.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and, using your hands, roll it into a log about 30cm long and about 5 cm wide (or similar size to that)
Put the biscotti log on the lined baking sheet and bake it near the centre of the oven for 30 minutes.
After that, transfer it to a cooling tray and leave until completely cold. Don’t be tempted to cut the biscotti before they are completely cool otherwise, they will look squished and lose their shape.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C, gas mark 2.
Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the biscotti into slightly diagonal slices about 1cm wide.
Place them back on the lined baking tray – this time flat – and bake for another 30 minutes until pale gold and crisp. At this point, you are really just drying them out.
Transfer the bisctotti to the cooling tray and when cold, store in an airtight container for up to week (or more). I’ve successfully stored my biscotti for about 4 weeks, but they are usually gone by week three.
If you want to, you can freeze biscotti on the day when you bake them and should be fine in freezer up to 1-2 months.

Quantity & batch size

This recipe is for 10-12 slices of chocolate biscotti. The final amount depends on how thinly you slice your biscotti. You can easily double or triple this recipe, just make sure you have enough space in your oven for two or three baking trays. This makes things e

Storage

Your biscotti can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks. They also make a perfect gift, because unlike other biscuits they don’t crumble and hold their shape really well. Pack them in a glass jar or a cellophane bag with a pretty ribbon and a handwritten label.

You can also freeze the biscotti and keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

More biscuits recipes

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies >>

Why not stay in touch…

I hope you enjoy making this recipe and if you do, I’d love to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or find me on Instagram or Facebook and add the hashtag #cocoaandheart so that I can see your post.

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Magdalena