Healthy White Chocolate Biscotti
These biscotti are perfect for Christmas and the holidays — or any time of year! They’re lightly sweetened with a subtle yet cozy spice backdrop, hints of caramel, and bits of white chocolate sprinkled throughout. They also have an extra crunchy texture, which makes them perfect for dunking in coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or even milk! If the leftovers are fully hard and dry, they will keep for 1-2 weeks, if not longer, if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (150g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ½ tsp ground cardamom (see Notes!)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 ¼ tsp almond extract
- 1 ½ tsp water (see Notes!)
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp (28g) finely chopped white chocolate (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, almond extract, and water. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until fully incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate.
- Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet, and shape into a long and skinny rectangle that’s 2 ¼” wide and ¾” tall using your hands or a spatula. (I love using these mini spatulas. If the cookie dough sticks to your hands, rub them with a little neutral-tasting oil first!)
- Bake at 350°F for 33-35 minutes. (The outside should be golden brown and very dry and crusty!) Let the rectangle of baked cookie dough cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes (no more and no less!).
- Transfer the rectangle of baked cookie dough to a cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the rectangle into ½”-thick strips (no wider!), working from one short end of the rectangle to the other. (Both diagonal strips and horizontal strips will work!) You should end up with cookies that are ½” thick, ¾” tall, and 2 ¼”+ wide.
- Place the cookies onto the original baking sheet with one cut side facing down and the other cut side facing up. Bake at 350°F, flipping the cookies halfway through, for 6-8 minutes (for centers with just a bit of “give”) or 12-16 minutes (for centers that are completely hard and dry). Cool completely to room temperature on the baking sheet.
Notes
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTE: It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much flour will dry out your cookie dough, and it won’t come together to form a rectangle in Step 3. If this happens to you, add more water ½ teaspoon at a time until all of the flour is incorporated.
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
CARDAMOM NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: I highly recommend using the cardamom! I promise it’s not a “one time use” ingredient. You’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too!
For a more subtle spice flavor, decrease the cardamom to ¼ teaspoon instead. You probably won’t be able to tell it’s cardamom; your biscotti will just have a background warmth, depth, and richness.
However, if you’re staunchly against using it, then you can substitute cinnamon or nutmeg, but your biscotti won’t have the same flavor.
WATER NOTE: Not all “large” eggs are the exact same size. If your biscotti dough seems dry, then your large egg was probably on the smaller side. Add more water ½ teaspoon at a time until you can fully incorporate all of the flour mixture. The biscotti dough should be slightly sticky but not wet.
COCONUT SUGAR ALTERNATIVE: Light brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
WHITE CHOCOLATE NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: Both white chocolate chips and white chocolate bars will work. I really like Ghirardelli (both their chips and bars) and Lindt bars. Remember, the white chocolate caramelizes during the baking process, so it loses its cloying sweetness and develops a richer butterscotch- or caramel-like flavor instead.
If you prefer, finely chopped dark chocolate may be substituted in place of the white chocolate.
Do not substitute mini chocolate chips; your biscotti will crumble apart when you try to slice the log in Step 5.
IMPORTANT BAKING NOTES: It’s okay if the log spreads a bit during the first bake in Step 3! My batches regularly spread to be ¼” to ½” wider than I initially shaped the log.
If you wait longer than 10 minutes to slice the log in Steps 4 + 5, then it’ll be harder to cut. When you cut your one large log, use a serrated knife (aka a bread knife; I own and love this one!), and try to slice in just one direction, rather than back and forth. That minimizes the crumbs, as well as any potential broken biscotti.
Sometimes, the side facing upward can dry out faster than the side touching the baking sheet. Therefore, during the second bake, I prefer to flip my biscotti halfway through so I can guarantee both sides bake evenly.
If you end up accidentally baking your biscotti for too long during the second bake, that’s totally fine — just call them “dunkers” and always dip them in hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or even cold milk before eating!
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free version, use a store-bought gluten-free flour blend that’s a cup-for-cup flour replacement. I really like Bob’s Red Mill’s GF blend.
DAIRY FREE OPTION: Use dairy free, vegan friendly white chocolate (such as this).
CLEAN EATING OPTION: Substitute finely chopped dark chocolate for the white chocolate.
HOW TO STORE: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. If stored at room temperature, they’ll last 1-2 weeks (maybe longer!). If stored in the refrigerator, they’ll keep for at least 2 weeks. These biscotti freeze well too.
DOUBLING THE RECIPE: This recipe is easily doubled!
See the text of my blog post above for more tips and information!!
{gluten-free, dairy-free option, clean eating option, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amyshealthybaking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.