Gingerbread biscotti are one of my favorite holiday treats, with all the warm spiciness of a gingerbread cookie in a delicious homemade biscotti.
Gingerbread biscotti are a perfect alternative when you are craving the flavors of gingerbread, but just don’t have time for chilling, rolling, and cutting gingerbread dough.
For those unsure about how to make biscotti, it’s really quite simple.
Biscotti dough is formed into a log shape, then baked, cooled, sliced, and then baked again.
The good news is that when you are baking homemade biscotti you can control their texture – bake them a little less if you want a chewier biscotti and a little longer for a hard crispy one.
Gingerbread biscotti make a perfect holiday gift. They are sturdy enough to travel well and last for days or weeks so you can keep them on hand throughout the holiday season to share with friends.
Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe
Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup lightly packed dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup molasses
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- Position one of your oven racks in the center of your oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking liner.
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or, if mixing by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda until well blended. Add the nuts and apricots and beat on low speed or with a wooden spoon briefly.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, lightly beat the molasses, eggs,and orange zest with a whisk. With the mixer on low speed or while stirring with the spoon, slowly pour in the molasses/egg mixture. Continuing beating or stirring with the spoon or your hands until the dough is well blended and begins to form moist clumps, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape the dough on to an unfloured work surface and divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a 1 1/2 inch by 10 inch log. The dough will be sticky so you may need to add more flour to your hands as you go along to accomplish this.
- Carefully transfer the logs onto your prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 4 inches apart. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of your oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top of the logs are cracked and spring back when gently pressed.
- Remove baking sheet from the oven and place on a wire rack and allow the logs to cool about 20 minutes, (Leave the oven set at 350F degrees or reheat before resuming).
- Transfer the logs to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the logs on a slight diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch slices. Use a gentle sawing motion to cut through the logs.
- Place slices on the baking sheet cut side down. It’s okay if they touch since they won’t spread. Bake the biscotti slices another 10 to 20 minutes, or until they are dried to your taste. At 10 minutes they will still be chewy and by 20 minutes they will be super dry and crunchy.
- Place baking sheet on a wire rack and allow the biscotti to cool completely on the sheet. The biscotti will harden as they cool. Store in airtight containers.
Yield: Makes about 2 dozen gingerbread biscotti
Source: This biscotti recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Abby Dodge in The best of Fine Cooking – Cookies
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