Cranberry Orange Biscotti with White Chocolate Drizzle

5 from 2 votes

on Dec 02, 2015, Updated Sep 26, 2024

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Cranberry orange biscotti are always good but especially during the festive period when cranberries and warm citrus flavours come into their own. Biscotti are famed for being a dry cookie that you dip into hot drinks. Just the kind of snack you want during the holidays!

Cranberry orange biscotti are a beautiful and festive treat with all those Christmassy flavors that are so good. Enjoy these with coffee or hot chocolate.

Also try Starbucks oat bars, chocolate sugar cookie cutouts, chocolate chip shortbread, and chocolate chunk pecan pie.

Made with dried cranberries and a mouth-watering white chocolate drizzle, these easy homemade biscotti definitely deserve a place on your Christmas bake list.

You will need flour, sugar, butter, orange, eggs, and baking powder to make them, plus brandy, salt and dried cranberries. This orange and cranberry cookie has a white chocolate drizzle and that’s easy to make. You just need white chocolate to make it and you can also add more cranberries.

I bet these cranberry orange biscotti would be great if you add nuts too. Chopped roasted almonds would be good, as would cashews. Walnuts are another appealing option.

How to Make Easy Homemade Biscotti

This orange and cranberry cookie is really easy to make. After mixing the sugar with the butter, orange and brandy, mix in the eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Next you need to stir in the cranberries and then chill the dough.

The following step is to shape the chilled dough into loaf shapes. Bake then cool the loaves. After that you can cut them into slices then bake again on good quality parchment sheets. This is how you get the biscotti crisp and crumbly.

The final step is to melt the chocolate to make the white chocolate drizzle. When the drizzle is set, you can enjoy these cranberry orange biscotti with a hot tea, coffee or your preferred drink.

Possible Biscotti Variations

These cookies can be made with dried cranberries or you can sub raisins or another kind of dried fruit. Semi-sweet chocolate would work in place of the white chocolate or you could swap the brandy for whiskey or dark rum. You can also leave out the alcohol if you don’t want to use it or use ‘vin santo’ – a sweetened, fortified red wine popular in Italy.

Curious Biscotti History

While you’re enjoying these cranberry orange biscotti you might be wondering about the history of this treat. Actually these cookies can be traced back to Roman times when they were prepared for travelers since they would not go stale on long journeys.

Easy homemade biscotti was flavoured with almonds in the Roman era, although today there are many flavours including those made with dried cranberries. Biscotti comes from ‘bis’, the Latin word for twice, and ‘coctum’ which means cooked or baked. Biscotti recipes were a real staple of Roman legions!

In Italy, biscotti is the name given to any twice-baked type of cookie regardless of shape or flavour. And Italian bakeries certainly have plenty of types to choose from!

If you love the flavours of cranberries and orange, you’ll also enjoy these Starbucks inspired cranberry bliss bars.

How Do You Store Easy Homemade Biscotti?

Along with being delicious, biscotti is known to last for a long time. That’s why it was so popular with traveling Roman armies! They will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. I find they stay extra crisp in a tin rather than a plastic container. Some wax paper between the layers helps keep the chocolate drizzle in place.

If you’re considering these cranberry orange biscotti this year, why not make extra? Wrapped in cellophane and tied with colourful ribbons, they make a great festive gift for friends and neighbours. It’s just as easy making a double or triple batch as making just the one and they last for weeks anyway.

Can You Freeze Biscotti?

This orange and cranberry cookie is freezer-friendly. Frozen in an airtight container, the cookies will keep for up to 3 months. Another idea is to freeze the baked loaves then thaw, cut into slices and bake for the second time. That way they’ll be oven-fresh and just as good as if you didn’t freeze them halfway through.

Why Did My Biscotti Crack?

Whether you cut your biscotti into rectangles or angles is your choice. But do take care and be gentle while you flip them over so they don’t crumble or crack. I like to use a long-handled tong to turn the cranberry orange biscotti over.