Cherry Almond Biscotti
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This simple recipe for homemade Cherry Almond Biscotti is like a little piece of heaven. If you’ve never made biscotti at home, you are in for a real treat. This recipe yields crisp, tender cookies that won’t break your teeth.
When it comes to biscotti, it’s hard to beat a crunchy texture that isn’t difficult to eat. All too often they are extra hard and nearly break your teeth if you try to eat it without dunking it in coffee or milk. This recipe for Cherry Almond biscotti is just the opposite of that!
The Identity of Cherry Almond Biscotti
Classic biscotti is a well-known coffee house cookie. Their crunchy texture makes them perfect for dipping. They are sweetly flavored and often times speckled with nuts or dried fruit. The variations between recipes produce different levels of sweetness and crunch. But for me, there are certain elements that make the best biscotti.
The biscotti that I enjoy most are crisp but still tender enough to eat without dunking. They are studded with my favorite dried fruit, cherries in this case. Each bite offers a sweet almond flavor that you simply can’t get enough of.
The almond scent that fills the air as the biscotti bakes is almost as good as the taste.
Making the biscotti
To keep the biscotti from being too hard, I swap a small portion of the all-purpose flour for almond meal. This helps to minimize gluten development in the crumb, keeping it loose and crumbly. Using a combination of oil and butter give the biscotti intense buttery flavor and softens the crumb. This is a recipe that you can enjoy without dunking in coffee or milk.
Biscotti always get baked twice. First, shape it into a log and bake it until set. Then, cut it into slices and bake on each side until crisp. The oil and butter work their magic in keeping the biscotti from drying out during its second round in the oven. No dry, tooth-cracking biscotti here!
Cherry Almond Biscotti
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin light olive oil
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups (325 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (45 g) almond meal , or finely ground almonds
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup (142 g) dried cherries, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the oil, butter, and sugar. Beat in the almond and vanilla extracts, followed by the eggs.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, almond meal, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Mix just until dough forms. Stir in the cherries.
- Shape the dough into two 12×2-inch logs on the prepared baking sheet. Press down to about ½ inch thick.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow the logs to cool enough to touch. Slice into ½-inch diagonal slices. Lay each slice cut side down. Return to the oven for 10 minutes longer or until lightly toasted on each side. Cool completely on a wire rack. Biscotti will keep for up to 2 weeks stored in an airtight container stored at room temperature.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
I did make one adjustment actually, I used almond flour, though I think its roughly the same as what the recipe calls for.
Yes, almond meal and almond flour are essentially the same things. Some brands of almond flour are ground finer. But either should work with this recipe.
Lovely. Baked them and ate a few straight out of the oven. Tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. Made no adjustments (except maybe going a little extra on the essences) but kept an eye on them toward the last ten minutes. Many thanks.
Your recipe is fantastic. I did at 1/4 more flour and dipped the finished Biscotti chocolate bark mixed with coconut oil.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
I just made this biscotti as directed. I was offput by the baking temp of 375′. My gut told me to bake at 350′. I did, however, bake at 375 for 25 minutes and when i smelled burning I pulled it put out of the oven 3 minutes early. Next time I will trust my instinct. They are delicious, nonetheless!
Perfectly Delish! This is my first time making biscotti and they turned out just how I enjoy these cookies with coffee – crunchy and just sweet enough. I subbed canola oil for olive oil and I ground up the almonds in my food processor as you suggested instead of using almond meal. I didn’t realize the recipe would be so wet, so I added more 1/4 cup more flour and used flour on my counter when I shaped the logs. The addition and subs didn’t alter the outcome. I pinned this one and I know I will return to it again. Thank you
I love the texture of these biscotti, thanks to the almond meal. I will bake them at a slightly lower temperature next time and cut the almond essence down to 1 teaspoon. However, they are still delicious and there will definitely be a next time!
These are the best biscotti ever. I love the addition of the almond meal. Just crunchy enough without being to hard.
Hello from a Canadian Foodie!
We loved these. Thank you, Jen.
I made them more-or-less as your recipe stated. Used part organic sunflower oil, but I think the cookie is strong enough to handle only EVOO, too. Plus the butter, of course. Mine is lightly salted butter by nature (Stirling butter).
I only used 1 tsp of the almond extract. And reduced to b powder to 2 tsp b/c I don’t like things too puffy. And a sl. heaping 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
Along with the dried cherries (yum), I added toasted slivered almonds. I added a bit more than a cup of the cherries. The next time (there will be many next times), I will use regular almonds, chopped. The slivered ones always seem as if the flavour has been leached out of them. BTW – it was a great idea to use the almond meal.
Finally, I’m never able to cut my biscotti as thinly as suggested, and instead, cut them to be about 3/4 inch. That was fine, too.
In any case, they were fabulous. And I enjoyed your delightful intro’, too, Jen.
Helen.
p.s. I have a nice recipe for some biscotti with EVOO, dried apricots and cocoa nibs. Plus another one calling for walnuts and rum. If you ever might like to see these, happy to share!
Thanks for the comment, Helen! We love this biscotti as well so I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed it too.
Hello from a Canadian Foodie!
We loved these. Thank you, Jen.
I made them more-or-less as your recipe stated. Used part organic sunflower oil, but I think the cookie is strong enough to handle only EVOO, too. Plus the butter, of course. Mine is lightly salted butter by nature (Stirling butter).
I only used 1 tsp of the almond extract. And reduced to b powder to 2 tsp b/c I don’t like things too puffy. And a sl. heaping 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
Along with the dried cherries (yum), I added toasted slivered almonds. I added a bit more than a cup of the cherries. The next time (there will be many next times), I will use regular almonds, chopped. The slivered ones always seem as if the flavour has been leached out of them. BTW – it was a great idea to use the almond meal.
Finally, I’m never able to cut my biscotti as thinly as suggested, and instead, cut them to be about 3/4 inch. That was fine, too.
In any case, they were fabulous. And I enjoyed your delightful intro’, too, Jen.
Helen.
p.s. I have a nice recipe for some biscotti with EVOO, dried apricots and cocoa nibs. Plus another one calling for walnuts and rum. If you ever might like to see these, happy to share!