Guido Pedrelli, the mastermind behind Nonna Box, has honed his culinary expertise for decades, inspired by family feasts in Emilia-Romagna. Mentored by his restaurateur nonna, he mastered Italian classics and furthered his skills with professional culinary studies in desserts and gelato making from Mec3. Today, he shares this rich legacy and authentic recipes through Nonna Box.
Expertise: Italian cuisine, Pasta, Pizza, Pastry, Dessert
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Slightly crunchy golden brown outside and softer chewy middle with the delicious addition of whole almonds, these Tuscan cantucci style cookies are one of our favorite nonna’s biscotti recipes and the absolute best biscottis around.
Many Tuscan make them at the beginning of the holidays to have on hand to offer at the end of a big meal along with a glass of Vin Santo or to neighbors who stop by for coffee and a chat.
Biscotti are easy to make and last seemingly forever, so keep reading for step by step instructions and tricks to use in the kitchen to make the perfect cantuccini toscani almond biscotti.
What kitchen instruments are needed
Here is a list of the kitchen items you will need to biscotti recipes.
several baking sheets or cookie sheets
a medium sized bowl or large bowl
a fork for stirring
a cutting board
a sharp serrated knife
This traditional biscotti recipe that Italian grandmothers have been using for generations can be prepped and baked in about 30 minutes. It’s an old recipe that’s well worth the effort, especially when your family loves them!
Ingredients for classic Italian biscotti recipe
You probably have everything you need already in your pantry to make this great biscotti recipe. Besides being easy and yummy it is also fairly inexpensive to make a large quantity of cookies. The added benefit is that they will last a really long time and are very easy to store.
All-purpose flour (280 grams | 2.24 cups) – you can use all-purpose wheat flour for this recipe or if you are located in Italy you can use 00 flour. We prefer organic flour, but it isn’t necessary if you don’t have it in your pantry.
Granulated sugar (150 grams | 0.75 cup) – white sugar is needed for this recipe. We don’t recommend using other types of sugar because it changes the texture of the cookies too much.
Almonds with peel (130 grams | 0.91 cup) – whole almonds are what the recipe calls for, but some people prefer using blanched almonds, which simply means that the skin has been removed and they are perfectly fine to use. You can also see our “variations” sections for ideas of substitutions if you don’t happen to like almonds or nuts.
Eggs (2 large) – we love farm fresh organic eggs, but if you can’t get them it’s no big deal.
Orange peel (1) – you will need to make orange zest, so the orange should definitely be organic because you want to avoid zesting chemical residue into your biscotti.
Lemon peel (1) – just like with the orange peel, an organic lemon is very important when making your zest to use in this great recipe.
Vanilla extract (1 tablespoon) – use pure extract if at all possible, or you can substitute with vanilla essence if that’s all you have.
Baking powder (1 teaspoon) – be sure to use fresh baking powder because baking powder that has been sitting opened for too long can become “deactivated” and your biscotti will be flat and overly hard.
Salt (1 pinch) – as we always mention, fine sea salt is of course our favorite.
How to make biscotti step by step
In just a few simple steps you can create your own delicious homemade biscotti recipe, keep reading for step-by-step instructions.
Preheat the oven to 350° F / 180° C.
Put the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, orange zest, salt and vanilla into a medium sized bowl. Stir together with a fork until well blended. photo 1
Now stir in the flour and baking powder, still using the fork. photo 2
Knead the biscotti dough for a minute or two until the dough is smooth and uniform. If the dough is sticking to your hands, sprinkle in a small amount of additional flour. photo 3 and 4
Add the whole almonds to the dough and knead them in until uniform. photo 5
Now divide the dough in half photo 6. Using a small amount of flour, shape the dough into two long strips/logs of about 3 cm / 1 inch wide directly on a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). Do not flatten the logs as you want them to maintain the height when baking. photo 7
The oven temperature should be reached, so place the cookie sheet on the middle part of the oven and bake for about 16 minutes. The cookie dough should rise slightly as it bakes.
Remove from the oven and let the logs cool slightly, then cut each log crosswise into individual biscotti of about 2 cm / 0.75 in thick. photo 8
Place each biscotti on its side and do a second bake of 4 minutes on one side. Then turn all the biscotti over and bake a third time, this time for 4 minutes as well.
Remove from the oven and let the biscotti cool completely. It is important to let them sit at room temperature uncovered so that they develop the right texture and hardness and will store for a longer period of time.
You can serve the biscotti after they have cooled with some delicious Vin Santo sweet dessert wine, coffee or tea.
Other Italian biscuits recipes for you to try out:
Don’t smash it down! Be sure not to flatten the dough you have formed into a log/strip as you want it to maintain its height when baking (and even puff up a bit).
Let them sit out. Be sure to let your biscotti sit out to cool completely for several hours or even overnight. If you put them in an airtight or sealed container too soon they will get mushy and you won’t be able to store them for as long because they will retain too much humidity.
Biscotti variations you can try
There are so many variations of biscotti we can’t possibly list them all here, but we will tell you a few of our absolute favorites.
Go chocolatey. If you are a chocolate lover, you can either substitute half or all the almonds with the same amount of mini chocolate chips (you can even try white chocolate chips if that is your preference).
Dip them in chocolate. You can add a step by dipping half of each baked cookie in melted chocolate. You will need about 200 grams/0.5 lbs of dark chocolate that you then melt in a bain-marie. Once the chocolate has fully melted, dip one half of each cookie into the melted chocolate and then place it on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and let the chocolate cool and harden before serving.
Add your favorite dried fruit. Another delicious addition to this recipe is fruit. You can substitute the almonds with the same amount of dried fruit such as dried cranberries.
Enjoy your biscotti with one of these Italian drinks:
In what type of container and for how long should I store biscotti?
Biscotti can be placed in a tin cookie container for one to two months.
What should I serve biscotti with?
You can serve the biscotti with Vin Santo, a sweet dessert wine from Tuscany. Tuscans love to dip their cantucci cookies in Vin Santo! You can also serve biscotti with another sweet wine, liqueur, coffee, hot chocolate or tea.
Can I freeze biscotti?
Yes, you can freeze biscotti for several months. Place the biscotti on a cookie tray and put in the freezer for an hour. Remove and place them gently into a freezer-safe plastic bag or airtight container and put them back in the freezer. To defrost, take them out and let them defrost at room temperature uncovered. Once defrosted, pop them in a warm oven for several minutes so that they crisp up and then, once cooled, they are ready to be enjoyed.
Can I use almond extract instead of vanilla extract?
Yes, if you love the flavor of almond and want super almond flavored biscotti, then you can substitute the vanilla extract with the same amount of almond extract.
Authentic Italian Biscotti Recipe
This traditional recipe for almond biscotti is one of our absolute favorites! Use our detailed instructions to get the perfect results every time with this fabulous recipe and enjoy the taste of Italy along with coffee or Vin Santo after your next big family meal.
Put the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, orange zest, salt and vanilla into a medium sized mixing bowl. Mix together with a fork until well blended.
Now mix in the flour and baking powder, still using the fork.
Knead the biscotti dough for a minute or two until the dough is smooth and uniform. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.
Add the whole almonds to the biscotti dough and knead in for a few seconds until well distributed. If you are adding other extras or substitutions such as chocolate chips or dried cranberries now is the time.
Divide the dough in two. Using a small amount of flour, shape the dough into two long strips/logs of about 1 in/3 cm wide directly on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Do not flatten them as you want them to maintain the height when baking.
The oven should be up to temperature, so place the baking sheet on the middle part of the oven for about 16 minutes. The cookie dough should rise slightly as it bakes.
Remove from the oven and when the logs have cooled slightly, take each one and cut it crosswise into individual biscotti of about 0.75 in/2 cm thick.
Place each biscotti on its side and bake 4 minutes on one side. Then turn all the biscotti over and bake another 4 minutes on the other side, they should be only lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and let the biscotti cool completely. As soon as they come out of the oven they might appear overly hard, but if you let them sit out you will get the perfect hardness.
You can serve the biscotti after they have cooled with some delicious Vin Santo sweet dessert wine, coffee or tea.
The dough took some kneading to come together but did after some time. I made an extra 1/2 recipe of dough because the almonds kept popping out.
Turned out perfect.
Is the zest of one lemon peel and zest of one orange peel meaning I should zest the whole lemon peel as well as the zest the whole orange peel? Or is it just the zest of 1 peeling of each? I’m just unsure…Thanks!
Should the almonds be raw or roasted almonds? Thank you!
Ciao! I used raw almonds for this recipe.
Quick to assemble and delicious to eat. Thank you Nonna.
Grazie mille Paola!
Flavor was great but found the baking time to be quite low. Would definitely bake longer for each step to get more golden color that is traditional
Glad you liked them! Thanks for the feedback, temperature also depends on oven, it make sense to keep them for longer as desired.
The dough took some kneading to come together but did after some time. I made an extra 1/2 recipe of dough because the almonds kept popping out.
Turned out perfect.
So glad it turned out great! Grazie mille Caroline
Is the zest of one lemon peel and zest of one orange peel meaning I should zest the whole lemon peel as well as the zest the whole orange peel? Or is it just the zest of 1 peeling of each? I’m just unsure…Thanks!