This Vegan Biscotti Recipe makes the most delicious crunchy, slightly sweet Italian biscuits for dipping into your morning coffee. Plus, these biscotti can be stored for weeks and are the most perfect make-ahead holiday cookies ever.
I have a passion for vegan cookies are all kinds, but especially for holiday cookie recipes, like my Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Almond Flour Sugar Cookies, or Walnut Snowball Cookies. I was raised in France eating Italian biscotti, and this vegan version won’t disappoint all cookie lovers.
Biscotti, also known as Cantucci or Cantuccini, are twice-baked, ultra-crunchy Italian cookies with a long log shape and are often served to dip in hot drinks like coffee or tea. These vegan almond biscotti have a crunchy texture and a delicate almond taste.
Biscotti comes from the Latin word “biscoctus” which means twice baked. It shares the same etymology as the French “biscuit.” The particularity of biscotti cookies is that they are baked, cooled, cut into long slices, and baked again.
Unfortunately, classic biscotti are made with two or more eggs and butter and sometimes dipped into milk chocolate. So they are not vegan. For vegan biscotti cookies, you need a specific plant-based recipe. Try mine below!
Ingredients and Substitutions
It’s very easy to make a vegan biscotti recipe using only a few simple ingredients. You don’t need anything fancy, just the ones below.
- All-Purpose Flour or white spelt flour. The recipe should work with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
- Almond Flour – The recipe won’t work with almond flour only.
- Vegan Butter – or margarine.
- Plant-Based Milk – I like soy milk or almond milk, both work fine. It also works with cashew and oat milk.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – to make them rise a bit and make them even crunchier.
- Sugar – Any kind of granulated sweetener works, from coconut sugar to allulose or erythritol.
- Brown Sugar – Or brown sweetener.
- Vanilla Extract – for flavor.
- Almond Extract – to boost the flavor of the almond flour.
How To Make Vegan Biscotti
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the dry ingredients: almond flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using the paddle attachment or a whisk, stir to combine evenly.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the batter: melted plant-based butter, plant-based milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Using the paddle attachment or the beating tool of an electric beater, whisk to combine and form a dough that comes together. If the dough is too crumbly or dry, add the extra non-dairy milk, adding a bit more if needed until the dough comes together into a dough ball that you can handle in your hands. The dough shouldn’t be creamy or soft, but instead, it should be easy to handle, like playdoh, to form a dough ball.
- Fold in the chopped almonds, and stir for a few seconds to blend in the cookie dough.
- Divide the dough into two logs of a similar size and place them both on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Flatten each log into a 1-inch thick log. It should be about 5 inches x 3 inches in size. The goal is to flatten the log evenly. Don’t keep the center higher than the rest of the log, or it won’t cook well in the middle.
- Sprinkle some sugar all over the logs if you like. This is optional but tastes amazing. The secret of biscotti cookies is that they are baked twice.
- First, bake the dough logs on the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F (180°C). They are ready to remove from the oven when the top of the logs cracks and gets golden brown. If you insert a pick in the center of the logs, it should come out with a little crumb on it but not overly wet.
- Let the biscotti cool completely for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet and reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (160°C).
- Transfer the baked biscotti logs to a chopping board.
- For the next step, it’s important that you use a bread knife or sharp serrated knife to slice the logs into 1-inch wide slices. In fact, the logs are hard, and they won’t cut well if your knife blade is not serrated. When you cut the center part of the log, it often happens that the border cracks. It always happens with biscotti. You can hide this later by dipping half of the biscotti into melted chocolate.
- Return the cut biscotti to the baking sheet by placing them with their cut side down the sheet.
- Bake the biscotti for an extra 20 minutes until golden brown at 325°F (160°C).
- Cool down for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then on a cooling rack.
Flavoring Options
I love to add chopped nuts or dried fruits to the biscotti dough. If you don’t like almonds replace the chopped almonds in this recipe with some of the options below. Make sure you finely chop the ingredients before adding in the cookie dough, or they make it difficult to cut the logs into biscotti:
- Dried Cranberries
- Dried Apricots
- Pistachio
- Shredded Coconut
- Chocolate Chips – vegan white chocolate chips and cranberries taste amazing.
- Walnuts or Pecans
Dipping In Chocolate
You can melt dark chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl or non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Then, drizzle the melted chocolate on half of the biscotti side, keeping the biscuits on the wire rack so the excess chocolate runs down.
Decorating
Sprinkle some of the following on the melted chocolate:
- Shredded Coconut
- Sliced Almonds
- Crushed Peanuts
To set the melted chocolate faster, pop the biscotti on a plate and refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate is set, which takes 10 minutes to 30 minutes in the fridge.
Serving
Italian biscotti are often served as a side cookie to a cup of coffee or cup of tea. In fact, biscotti are so crunchy that they are perfect for dipping in hot drinks. They won’t break and taste amazing dipped in coffee.
Storage Instructions
These vegan biscotti can be stored for up to 2 weeks in a glass jar or metallic cookie jar in the fridge. They freeze very well for up to 3 months in Ziploc bags. Thaw the frozen biscotti at room temperature the day before.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some ingredient swaps ideas if needed.
- Gluten-Free – I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flour to replace wheat flour, but I am confident this will work if your blend is a 1:1 flour blend containing added gums.
- Nut-Free – You can skip the almond flour or use sesame seed flour instead. Don’t replace it with more all-purpose flour. Simply skip for a nut-free option. For the filling, replace the chopped almonds with dried cranberries or chocolate chips, or skip entirely for a plain biscotti flavor.
- Butter Swaps – The recipe won’t work with oil, we tried coconut oil and avocado oil, and they both failed. Use plant-based butter only.
- Sugar-Free – You can use sugar-free sweeteners like erythritol is the best to keep the biscotti crispy. Don’t use xylitol. It makes cookies softer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are my answers to your most common questions about this recipe.
The most common flavors are almond biscotti, but you can replace the almonds with a mix of finely chopped pistachios and dried cranberry biscotti.
Or try chopped, unsweetened shredded coconut and chocolate chips.
You can add 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dough, but you will need more plant-based milk, or the batter will be very dry.
Yes, it often happens that the biscotti logs break on the sides when you cut them.
The secret is to cool completely the dough before cutting and use a sharp serrated knife.
This is not the conventional way to make biscotti, but pre-marking the dough logs with a knife before baking makes it easier to spread the biscotti later.
To do so, use a sharp knife, and before the first baking step, cut the logs into 1-inch slices.
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you’ve loved this cookie recipe and need more to fill a Christmas cookie jar, try some of these:
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Vegan Biscotti Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour - (note 1)
- ¼ cup Almond Flour - (note 2)
- ⅔ cup Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - (note 3)
- 3-4 tablespoons Plant Based Milk - (note 4)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Optional Add-Ons
- ¾ cup Roasted Almonds - ultra finely chopped
Optional Coating
- ¾ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
- 2 teaspoons Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper with oil spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Using the paddle attachment or a whisk, stir to combine the dry ingredients evenly.
- Add in the liquid ingredients: melted plant-based butter, plant-based milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Stir with the paddle attachment or spoon, on the low-speed setting until it forms a dough that comes together into a ball. If too dry, add more plant-based milk, one tablespoon at a time.
- Fold in finely chopped almonds and stir for a few seconds on low speed to incorporate evenly.
- Divide dough into two balls and place on the baking sheet leaving two thumb spaces between each as these expand.
- Shape both pieces of dough into logs of about 5 inches x 3 inches (12.7 cm x 7.5 cm), making sure the thickness is even and reaches 1 inch in height (2.5 cm).
First Bake
- Bake in the center rack of the oven for 30 minutes until the dough cracks and the color is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool down on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°F (160°C).
- Transfer to a chopping board, and using a long sharp serrated knife, cut each log into 1-inch thick slices. It often happens that the border of the log cracks as you cut the biscotti, and you can hide that but decorating half of the biscotti into melted chocolate later.
Second bake
- Place the biscotti, cut-side down on the baking sheet, and bake them again for 15 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Cool down on the baking sheet at room temperature until cool enough to transfer on a wire rack.
- Cool completely before decorating.
Decorating
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt dark chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave in 30-second bursts while stirring between each until fully melted.
- Keep the biscotti on the wire rack and drizzle half-melted chocolate on one side of half of the biscotti. If you like, sprinkle any sliced nuts or coconut on the melted chocolate.
- Pop the biscotti in the fridge until the chocolate shell is set which takes a few hours.
Storage
- Store for up to 2 weeks in a sealed cookie jar in the fridge or freeze for up to months in zip-lock bags. Thaw at room temperature the day before.
These turned out great. The texture and flavor are phenomenal. It’s a nice crunch, but not a tooth breaking crunch 🙂 I will definitely make these again. Thanks for the recipe!