Almond Biscotti (Cantucci) (2024)

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You can’t resist these Italian almond biscotti, they’re super crispy andtaste just amazing, with lovely hints of orange, honey, and delicious toasted almonds.

No sprinkles, no food colourings, no bells, no whistles. Simple is best.

Jump to recipe

Biscotti, otherwise known as “cantucci”, are the classic twice-baked Italian biscuits from Tuscanyand, if you haven’t heard about them before, biscotti literally means twice (bis) cooked (cotti).

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Baking them twice might sound a bit time-consuming, but it’s during this step that biscotti dry out and become crispy. The extra time is SO worth it, and the double-baking gives them their trademark crumbly dry crispness.

Almond biscotti are one of my all-time favorite treats. My heart adores their texture, the wholesome almonds, the orange zest, the anise seeds, the honey.

Seriously. They are unreal.

Years ago I used to bake and sell tons of these cantucci to several coffee shops here in London. People fell in love with them, totally.

Added bonus? Theylast up to 2 weeks and it’s a breeze to turn them into a homemade gift perfect for Christmas and Easter.

Seriously, it’s time for you to run to the kitchen and make them. We all need almond biscotti with a cup of coffee in our life.

Dunk, devour, and enjoy!

List of the ingredients

All-purpose flour or white spelt flour
Baking powder (not pictured)
Almonds
Egg
Sugar
Vegetable oil
Orange zest
Honey
Vanilla extract
Anise seeds (optional, but I love them!)

How to make Almond Biscotti

(Note: this is a quick description,the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)

In a large bowl whisk egg and sugar until pale.
Then stir in oil, vanilla, honey, and orange zest.

Toss in flour, baking powder, and anise seeds.
The dough starts to take shape.
Add toasted almonds.
Then bring it together gently by hands, inside the bowl.

You’ll see that the dough is very easy to work it…

Preheat the oven to 350°F/375℃.
Divide dough in half, shape 2 logs, and place them onto a baking sheet.
Then brush the logs with egg wash, a silicone pastry brush is perfect for this job!
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let these beautiful golden logs cool for 10-15 minutes.
Using a cutting board, slice the logs into diagonal pieces (½ inch/1.5 cm wide).

Wait, it’s not finished yet, one more step to make them crunchier!

Reduce oven temperature to 250℉/120℃.
Bake the biscotti slices 10 minutes per side. Don’t over-bake them!
Let them cool, make yourself a cup of coffee, enjoy and be happy!

Recipe notes

Almond biscotti ingredients

Just a few notes about some of the ingredients and substitutions, you’ll find more details in the recipe card!

Flour: all-purpose flour or white spelt flour work great for this biscotti recipe.

Eggs: you need one egg for the dough, and one egg to brushthe tops of logs to give a lovelygolden,shinyfinish.

Almonds: first,it’s worth toasting the almonds to bring out their flavor. Don’t skip this step! I prefer to use whole almonds, but almond slivers work just fine.

Flavor boosters: you have a touch of honey, vanilla and orange zest that create such a delicious and delicate balance of flavors. And I don’t use any almond extract in this recipe, I don’t think it’s needed.

Anise seeds:I know, they sound unusual, but trust me, their aromatic and refreshing notes take this almond biscotti recipe to the next level. Give them a try!

How long do almond biscotti last?

They last up to 2 weeksif stored in an airtight container (this type of metal tins are the best to store biscotti!).

More cookies & biscotti…

For more cookie recipes, check out this amazing list of Christmas cookies.
Below a few of our favorites:

Fig cookies(Italian cucciddati)
Chocolate orange cookies
1-bowl Orange chocolate cookies
Vegan almond biscotti
4-ingredient coconut cookies
Chocolate biscotti
Lemon biscotti
Chocolate chip biscotti

If you make this recipe for almond biscotti, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!

Recipe update: originally published in December 2019, this post has been updated today.

Print Recipe

Almond Biscotti (Italian cantucci)

You can't resist these crunchy almond biscotti, they're so crispy and mega delicious, with toasted almonds and hints of orange and honey. Easy to make and packed with healthy, wholesome ingredients.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: cookies

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Almond biscotti

Servings: 30

Calories: 99kcal

Author: Katia

Ingredients

1 cup (150 grams) Almonds, toasted
2 eggs
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp (90 grams) sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil (olive oil or canola oil)
1 orange, zest
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour or white spelt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp anise seeds, or more if you like (optional)*

Instructions

Preheat the oven to350°F/180℃and line 1 large baking tray with parchment paper.
TOAST THE ALMONDS: scatter the almonds over the prepared baking tray and toast them in the preheated oven until fragrant and lightly golden (it takes about 7 minutes). Remove from the oven and set aside.
MAKE THE BATTER: In a medium bowl, whisk 1 egg and sugar together until the batter has become lighter in color and thesugaris thoroughly dissolved.
Then add oil, honey, vanilla extract, orange zest, oil and mix well.
Stir in flour, baking powder, and anise seeds. Mix until most of the flour is incorporated (see picture above). Then add the almonds, and using your hands gently bring the dough together inside the bowl. Make sure the almonds are distributed evenly.
MAKE THE LOGS: divide the dough into two flat logs (approx 2 inches wide), arrange them apart on the baking tray and flatten slightly. Try to make them as uniformin size and shape as possible (see the pictures above). If you find the dough a bit sticky, simply wet your hands.
In a small bowl, beat the second egg and brush this egg wash over the logs. The egg wash gives a lovely golden color, but you can skip this step if you wish.
Bake them for about 25-30 minutes (27 mins for my oven), until the surface is firm to gentle pressure. Do not switch the oven off as these will need to be baked again, butreduce the heat to 250℉/120℃.
Let the logs cool on the baking tray for about 15 minutes, then use a sharp knife and gently slice them into 1/2-inch pieces. Better if you slice them on a chopping board, and be gentle when slicing.
Place the slices on the baking tray cut side down and return them to the oven for the second bake. Bake for about 10 minutes each side, a total of 20 minutes.

Notes

Storage:Italian almond biscotti keeps very well for about 2 weeks. However, humidity might ruin them, please store them in an airtight container, metal tins are the best!
Substitutions: traditionally made with almonds, you can replace the almonds with chocolate chips, hazelnuts, pine nuts or dried fruits like figs or sultanas. The possibilities are endless.Anise seeds are a must for the classic Italian almond biscotti, however, feel free to omit them if you wish.
Almonds: I highly recommend to toast the almonds to bring out their amazing flavor.I used whole almonds and I didn’t chop them, but if you bake biscotti for the very first time you might chop youralmonds, which will make the cutting easier.
Anise seeds:aniseed is optional, but it adds a lovely and refreshing note. I love it and I’m sure you would love it too. Give them a try!
You can easily replace white sugar with unrefined cane sugar and all-purpose flour with light spelt flour,whichtastes delicious and has a nutty flavor. Plus, spelt is a nutritious whole grain,and easier to digest than wheat
NUTRITIONAL VALUES: Please note that the nutrition values are based on an online nutrition calculator. It’s an estimate only and it should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. The nutrition value is for one serving only.

Nutrition