Is there anything better than a cookie you can dunk in a cup of coffee, cocoa, or tea? These biscotti are perfect for just that, which makes them a great snack at any time of day during the winter. They’re twice-baked so that they’re super crunchy, but when you dunk them in coffee, they soften to give you the perfect bite.
Biscotti used to intimidate me. There was something about finding that right moment to slice them after the first bake that scared me–perhaps it was all the times I waited too long and had the cookies break into bits as I cut into the dough. Eventually, I figured it out and decided that if I were to ever open a bakery or coffee shop, little bags of “biscotti bits” would come free with every drink purchase–may as well put those broken pieces to good use!
These biscotti start with roasted hazelnuts. The first time I made them, I decided to blanch the hazelnuts in water with some baking soda which resulted in a complete kitchen disaster! The moment I added the nuts in, everything boiled over before I could get the pot off the stove and brownish-purple stains were everywhere. I’ve since tried to avoid that method, and since it’s seemingly impossible to buy blanched hazelnuts at the grocery store (the girl at Whole Foods told me she just recommends people buy them off Amazon), I had to find an easier route than roasting and peeling these guys by hand. That’s when I found this lovely insight from The Honour System which opened me up to the Lisa Aheir method of peeling hazelnuts: roast them at 400°F for 5 minutes, let them cool 3-4 minutes, wrap them in a clean kitchen towel, and give them a good rub. The hazelnuts don’t come out perfectly peeled, but it’s good enough for our purposes here.
The hazelnuts are then mixed in with caramel, bashed, and tossed into the biscotti dough.
It sounds like a lot of prep, but trust me, it’s not too crazy. Plus, these biscotti are totally worth it!
This is the type of cookie where I like to be super precise in measurements, which means everything is weighed. I’ve done my best to include the quantities in volume, but if you have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend weighing everything out. Once again, it might seem tedious, but it’s what helps you get the best version of these biscotti!
Once the dough is formed, I usually just cut through the middle of it with a spatula, plop half of it down on a lined baking sheet, and form it into a 12 in x 2.5 in log. They might not be perfectly equal in size, but I usually only end up with a couple of centimeters difference in size. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and force the logs along. These biscotti are super jam-packed with hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, and toffee pieces and might need a bit of coaxing to come all together.
If you haven’t noticed yet, I really like my cookies full of all the goodies.
Bake the logs at 350°F for about 35 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer over to a cutting board and slice them on a diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. You should get about 2 dozen biscotti. When they’re all sliced, reduce the over temperature to 300°F, line them up on the baking sheet and pop them back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes. This is what dries them out and gives them that hard biscotti crunch! When they come out of the oven, they’ll seem a bit soft still, but they’ll harden as they cool.
The next step is the best: make yourself a pot of coffee or a cup of tea, dunk, and enjoy!
| Cook Time | 50 minutes |
| Passive Time | 10 minutes |
| Servings |
biscotti
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- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 cups hazelnuts roasted and peeled
- 89 ml extra virgin olive oil (1/3 cup)
- 177 g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
- 2 eggs large
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp orange extract
- 295 g flour (2 cups + 1.5 Tablespoons)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups caramelized hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup English toffee bits (Heath Bits O' Brickle)
- 2 oranges zested
- 1/2 cup macadamia nuts chopped
Ingredients
Caramelized Hazelnuts
Orange, Caramelized Hazelnut, and Toffee Biscotti
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- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place 2 cups of hazelnuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast 5 minutes, stirring once to make sure they don't burn.
- Let the hazelnuts cool 3-4 minutes before wrapping them in a clean tea/kitchen towel. Rub at the vigorously until most of the peels come off. Set aside while you make your caramel.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Evenly coat the bottom of a large saucepan with your sugars and place over medium heat. Watch carefully as the sugar begins to melt around the edges. As it melts, occasionally swirl the saucepan to help it melt more evenly. Once the caramel reaches a dark amber color, remove it from the heat.
- Immediately stir in your hazelnuts and pour the mixture onto your lined baking sheet. The caramel will be hot, so if you want to spread it out a bit use a spatula or the edge of your saucepan. The mixture will harden and cool fairly quickly.
- Once cooled, break the mixture up with a rolling pin so that you have large chunks of caramelized hazelnuts. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones if that's what you have) with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine your oil and sugar. Mix about 2-3 minutes until your sugar is a pale yellow/green and fluffy.
- In the meantime, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and orange zest.
- Add eggs one at a time, followed by your extracts, mixing to combine between each.
- Add your fillings and then your dry ingredients, making sure not to over mix.
- Shape your dough into two equal sized logs (about 12in x 2.5in). With all the fillings, you might have to use your hands to create the shape and keep everything in place.
- Bake 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the logs cool on the baking sheet about 10 minutes.
- Reduce your oven to 300°F. Transfer your logs to a cutting board and, with a serrated knife, slice on a diagonal. Your slices should be about 1/2 inch in width.
- Line up your sliced biscotti on the parchment lined baking sheet and put them back n the oven about 15-20 minutes (there's no need to flip them while baking).
- Remove the biscotti from the oven and let them cool on a baking sheet. Make a cup of coffee or tea, sit down with a good book or movie, and enjoy!
These should keep for about a week in an air-tight, sealed container.
Omg…i am totally making these my next day off!!! I’m really enjoying this!! Keep the recipes coming please!!! U r amazing!!! 😊❤