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Cookies for breakfast? Count me in! What a delightful way to start the day! These crunchy, sweet Italian pistachio biscotti are twice baked for that perfect satisfying snap. With the balanced flavors of pistachio and cranberries, this classic Italian cookie is dipped in melted chocolate which adds a touch of decadence to this rustic yet refined sweet treat. Wonderful paired with your morning tea or coffee (or your favorite latte), you’ll find that each bite of these chocolate-dipped pistachio cranberry biscotti feels like a special indulgence.
These chocolate-dipped pistachio biscotti are both easy to make and an elegant treat. If you like pistachios you’re going to find it hard to stop eating these.
Enjoy pistachios? Also try pistachio cookies, pistachio muffins, pistachio lemon wreath cookies, or this festive pistachio and white chocolate bark.
Why You’ll Love It
An elegant treat: Biscotti is an inspired choice if you want to impress your guests. It’s a refined cookie to serve with your choice of coffee or tea.
Not hard to make: Once you’ve combined the ingredients for the biscotti dough, all you have to do is bake and cool them, bake again, and add chocolate and pistachios to decorate.
An authentic biscotti recipe: Bring a traditional taste of Italy to your table with this gorgeous homemade biscotti recipe.
Pistachio Biscotti Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Flour: All-purpose flour is the best choice here.
Baking powder: To get the perfect texture.
Granulated sugar: To sweeten these Italian delicacies.
Kosher salt: Just a pinch to balance the flavors.
Chopped pistachios: Start off with shelled pistachios to save time and effort in the kitchen. I used these shelled pistachios but, if preferred, you can use raw (instead of roasted) ones.
Cranberries: A festive choice.
Orange zest: For a fruity taste.
How to Make Pistachio Biscotti Dipped in Chocolate
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Make the biscotti dough: Mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and mix in the egg and then the nuts and fruit.
Knead the dough: Turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
Shape the biscotti: Shape the dough into 2 rectangles, or logs.
Bake them: Put the biscotti logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about half an hour. Remove from the oven and cool for half an hour.
Slice the biscotti and bake again: Once cool, slice the dough into inch-thick slices with a serrated knife and bake at a lower oven temperature for a further half an hour. Let them cool.
The finishing touches: Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water) and dip the cooled pistachio biscotti in there. Sprinkle more pistachios on the chocolate while it’s still wet and then set the biscotti aside to dry and set.
Substitutions and Variations
Different flavors: The flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and egg quantities listed in the recipe are your base recipe. You can use different ingredients for other flavors, such as swapping the pistachios for almonds, the dried cranberries for dried cherries or the orange zest for lemon zest or lime zest. You can also add a few drops of lemon juice or orange juice too.
Add an extract: A few drops of vanilla extract, orange extract or almond extract would be good in your biscotti slices.
Another chocolate: You can make a white chocolate dip for the biscotti with melted white chocolate chips or try dark, semisweet or even bittersweet chocolate depending on your preference. These come out absolutely delicious whichever type of chocolate you opt for.
Serving Suggestions
With morning coffee: Whether you’re enjoying a pumpkin spice latte, Starbucks style pink drink or a whipped Dalgona coffee, biscotti pairs with everything.
After dinner with dessert: Serve homemade biscotti with your strawberry tiramisu or gingerbread trifle and you’re sure to get compliments.
With an after-dinner drink: Enjoy biscotti with a Baileys Irish coffee.
How to Store Biscotti with Pistachios
Store: Keep chocolate-dipped biscotti in a paper towel lined airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Without the chocolate dip they will last for up to a month.
Freeze: The sturdiness of pistachio biscotti makes them ideal for freezing, and you can store biscotti in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Thaw: You’ll find that biscotti thaw very quickly, so remove however many you want from the freezer a few minutes before serving.
Top Tips
Mixing the ingredients: Mix the ingredients by hand in a mixing bowl or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
Measure the flour carefully: It’s important to measure your flour accurately as too much flour can lead to dry biscotti.
Best type of pistachios: Use either raw or roasted salted pistachios when making pistachio biscotti. If using salted ones, you might want to reduce the amount of salt you use. Either type will work here.
Let it cool between bakes: Let the biscotti cool completely after the first bake, otherwise it will break and crumble when it’s cut.
Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti FAQs
The first bake is to create the initial shape of the biscotti which is baked as a whole so you can slice the biscotti into the desired shape afterwards. The second bake dries out the biscotti, giving them that classic hard and crisp texture. If you follow this recipe, the resulting biscotti will be crisp but not so crunchy they make you afraid for your teeth when you bite into them!
When mixing the dough with the butter knife, it will look and feel crumbly and quite dry. Don’t be tempted to add more liquid though as this will alter the texture. Try not to over-handle the dough when you bring it together into a cohesive shape. It should only take 6 to 8 turns (kneads) to smooth the dough out. Cut the dough into 2 rectangles or log shapes to fit more easily on a cookie sheet and bake evenly. If your dough rectangles are a different size, it doesn’t matter, but do aim to get the rectangles about 1 inch in depth though.
The way you slice the biscotti determines their size. For longer biscotti, cut on the diagonal (some will be longer than others). Cut straight for shorter biscotti that are all a similar size.
Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti Recipe
Pistachio Biscotti
Equipment
- Baking Sheet Large
- Bain Marie or Glass Bowl and Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ¾ Teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- 1¼ Cups white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1¼ Cups pistachios, shelled, roughly chopped
- 1 Cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- zest of 1 orange
- 4 Ounces chocolate, good quality milk, semisweet or bittersweet, whatever is your preference
- 2 Tablespoons pistachios, finely chopped, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Make the Biscotti Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix until combined then make a well in the center.
- Gradually add the lightly beaten egg a little at a time. Use a rubber spatula to work the egg in to the flour mixture. When all the egg has been added you will have a crumbly dry dough.
- Tip the pistachios, cranberries and orange zest into the mixing bowl. Use a butter knife to work these ingredients into the dough so that they are evenly dispersed.
- Lightly flour a surface and turn the dough out on to it. It will look very crumbly and that is fine. Use your hands to bring the dough together into a square shape, briefly kneading the dough until it looks and feels smooth.
- Cut the square in half so that you have two rectangles. Use your hands to shape the rectangles into two even shapes. They should be roughly 7 inches long by 3½ inches wide and 1 inch deep.
Bake the Biscotti:
- Arrange the dough rectangles on to the cookie sheet you prepared earlier. Bake them in the middle of the preheated oven for 30 minutes then remove them from the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF.
- After 30 minutes use a sharp serrated knife to slice the dough on the diagonal about 1 inch in thickness.
- Lay the biscotti cut side up on the cookie sheet then return to the oven for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes the biscotti should feel dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.
Add the Chocolate and Pistachios:
- Finely chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (in a bain-marie). Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Melt the chocolate then dip the cooled biscotti in it coating one end.
- To decorate, sprinkle the extra pistachios on top of the chocolate while it’s still wet and then leave to set.
Notes
Measure the flour carefully: It’s important to measure your flour accurately as too much flour can lead to dry biscotti.
Best type of pistachios: Use either raw or roasted salted pistachios when making pistachio biscotti. If using salted ones, you might want to reduce the amount of salt you use. Either type will work here.
Let it cool between bakes: Let the biscotti cool completely after the first bake, otherwise it will break and crumble when it’s cut.
Nutrition
Chocolate biscotti with pistachios is a luxurious treat. The combination of crisp cookies, chocolate and crunchy pistachios is a special one, and these gourmet snacks pair beautifully with tea, coffee or your beverage of choice.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
These biscotti were amazing! Crispy, nutty, and that chocolate dip? Pure indulgence. Perfect with coffee!
Absolutely loved these biscotti! They’re crunchy, nutty, and the chocolate dip is perfection. Great with my morning coffee – a little indulgence!