Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Name: Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour (254 grams weighed)** see note 1; 3/4 cup of sugar; 1/4 cup of olive oil; 2 whole eggs; 3/4 cup dried cranberries; 1 cup raw shelled pistachios (without the shell on); 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp vanilla; zest from 1 lemon (optional)

Jump to Recipe

This homemade cranberry pistachio biscotti is a great holiday biscotti or everyday biscotti to have with your morning coffee or tea. Every time I make this cranberry pistachio biscotti, it's gone within 24 hours. It's that good!

pistachio cranberry christmas biscotti in a bowl

This pistachio biscotti recipe knocks store-bought biscotti out of the water. Homemade biscotti is not hard to do, especially with my detailed guide below taking you step-by-step.

What I Love About This Recipe

Once you make homemade biscotti, you will never buy the store-bought biscotti again. It's so easy to batch prepare, freeze, bring to parties, and consume every morning with your cup of coffee.

I really love the flavor combination of pistachios and dried cranberries, which is also the perfect holiday combo. I was intimidated the first time making homemade biscotti, so I've tried to detail every step below to help you on your own biscotti journey!

What is Biscotti?

If you've never tried biscotti, it's a crunchy and firm cookie biscuit. Biscotti is not doughy and soft, and it has a texture more like a cracker. It's sweet, delicious, and perfect with a hot drink.

Ingredient Notes

ingredients needed to make cranberry pistachio biscotti

All-purpose flour: Overseas there are a lot of different types of flours. Use an equivalent to all-purpose flour or baking flour.
Olive oil: I recommend very high quality and tasty extra virgin olive oil. I used WholeFoods 365 Greek organic olive oil and it's made the batter so tasty.
Sugar: Use raw cane sugar or white sugar. Coconut sugar or liquid sweeteners may alter the taste and texture. If you try an alternative sweetener, drop a comment at the end of this post!
Shelled raw pistachios: It takes a long time to shell each pistachio one at a time, therefore, I highly suggest buying the pistachios already shelled. Roasted and salted pistachios can be used in lieu of raw pistachios, just omit the salt used in the batter.
Dried cranberries: Any kind of dried cranberry is appropriate for this recipe.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for quantities.

How To Make Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Cranberry pistachio biscotti is easy to make and store. The process for making homemade biscotti is split into three parts: making the batter, baking the biscotti, and cutting the biscotti.

Make the Biscotti Dough

In a bowl, add the sugar, olive oil, and vanilla. Mix well with a spoon.

add olive oil, vanilla, and sugar to a bowl

Add two eggs. Mix well until fully blended.

mix the eggs with the olive and sugar mixture

In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix well.

flour, salt, and baking powder added to a bowl

mixing the flour, salt, and baking powder together

Add the flour mixture to the olive oil and sugar mixture. Mix with a spoon until the batter starts to firm up into a dough-like texture.

Once the batter is a dough consistency, add the dried cranberries and pistachios.

mix the biscotti batter until it forms a dough

add the dried cranberries and pistachios to the biscotti dough

Mix the dried cranberries and pistachios into the biscotti batter with your hands. Scoop the batter onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

mix the dried cranberries and pistachios with your hands

transfer the biscotti dough to a parchment paper on a cookie sheet

Bake The Biscotti Log

Form a biscotti log with your hands.

Hint: Wet your hands with water so the biscotti dough doesn't stick to your hands. Also, the water helps smooth the surface of the biscotti.

Bake the cranberry pistachio biscotti log at 300 ℉ (150 ℃) in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes.

Hint: When baking the cranberry pistachio biscotti log, monitor the biscotti log color as a second way of determining when to take it out of the oven. Once the biscotti log is golden brown on the edges and the middle is cooked through (you can stick a toothpick in the middle cleanly), remove the log from the oven.

using wet hands, shape the biscotti dough into a log shape

biscotti log after being baked in the oven

How to Cut Biscotti

Cut the biscotti log using a knife. The biscotti should be cooked through and stay intact when slicing.

Delicately flip the biscotti on its sides on the parchment paper keeping the slices from breaking.

biscotti turned on its side prior to baking

Bake at 325 ℉ (160 ℃) in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the cranberry pistachio biscotti from the oven once it's golden brown.

after the biscotti has baked in the oven

Allow the biscotti to cool to room temperature prior to storage.

Tips and Tricks

The biggest tip in making the perfect cranberry pistachio biscotti is to weigh the flour using a kitchen scale. It's very easy to overfill (or underfill) a measuring cup if the flour is packed in or the measuring cup is not accurate. A kitchen scale gives a more accurate measurement in baking.

A second tip for making the best biscotti is adjusting for a difference in oven temperature and elevation. I've changed ovens over the years, and they all perform slightly differently. In order to accurately determine if your oven is reaching the right temperature, invest in an oven thermometer to validate the temperature of your oven.

If your oven is displaying 325 ℉ and the oven thermometer is reading 280 ℉, there is an issue with the oven. You will need to adjust your oven controls to make sure the oven is performing as it should.

Variations and Substitutions

Substitute roasted and salted pistachios for raw pistachios. If using salted pistachios, omit the added salt to the biscotti batter.

Add lemon zest. One of my favorite addition to this biscotti recipe is the zest from one whole lemon added to the batter. Mix the lemon zest into the egg, sugar, and olive oil batter (prior to adding the flour).

Dip the ends in some white chocolate. Using a double boiler, melt white chocolate chips. Dip the ends of the biscotti in melted white chocolate. Lay the pistachio cranberry biscotti with melted white chocolate on some parchment paper until the white chocolate hardens.

Equipment

Two medium size bowls: Use one bowl for the dry ingredients and the other for the wet ingredients.
Parchment paper: Lay the parchment paper on the baking sheet so the biscotti dough doesn't stick to the baking sheet.
Baking sheet or cookie sheet: Cook the biscotti in the oven using a flat baking sheet or cookie sheet.
Spatula or spoon
Chef's knife and cutting board: Use the chef's knife and cutting board to slice the biscotti log into sticks.
Measuring cups
Kitchen scale (optional): A kitchen scale gives a more accurate measurement for flour.

Storage

Store biscotti at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1.5 to 2 weeks. Freeze biscotti in an airtight container for up to 4 months. When ready to consume, just remove the biscotti from the freezer and allow it to thaw to room temperature (about 3 hours).

FAQs

What to eat biscotti with?

Biscotti goes excellent with a hot drink like coffee, cappuccino, or tea.

Where does the word biscotti come from?

The word biscotto in modern Italian literally means biscuit. Latin biscoctus means twice cooked. Biscotti is twice cooked in order to dry it out.

How long does biscotti last?

Biscotti can last up to 2 weeks at room temperature or up to 4 months in the freezer in an airtight container.

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