Best Vanilla Gluten Free Biscotti (Easy & Delicious)
Crispy, crunchy gluten free biscotti made with or without finely chopped almonds, are naturally dairy-free and turn out perfect every time. You'll be amazed how easy they are to make—and how flavorful they are!
Yield: 10 biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (175 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (84 g) raw almonds chopped finely (optional)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract (See Recipe Notes)
- Coarse sugar for coating (optional)
- Melted dark chocolate for dipping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a small rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Add the optional chopped almonds, and mix to combine.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract, and mix to moisten all the dry ingredients in the beaten eggs and extracts. It's helpful to press down with the bowl of the mixing spoon.
- With clean, dry hands, knead the cookie dough until smooth. It should hold together very well after it's all been moistened.
- Place the dough in the center of the prepared baking sheet, and shape with wet hands into a loaf that is 7-inches long x 3-inches wide x 1-inch thick.
- If you're using the coarse sugar, moisten the top of the raw loaf with wet hands until it glistens. Sprinkle the coarse sugar in an even layer on top. Press down to help the sugar adhere.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until lightly golden brown and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. If you haven't used the chopped almonds, the loaf will take a few minutes longer in the oven to become firm to the touch.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the loaf to cool for at least 10 minutes, or until only slightly warm to the touch.
- Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.
- Using a large, serrated knife, slice the loaf carefully in cross-section on the bias into 10 to 12 pieces. Cut the slices carefully by sawing back and forth with the serrated knife. Each piece should be about 1/4-inch thick.
- Place the pieces back on the prepared baking sheet, cut-side down and spaced about 1-inch apart from one another. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- The bottoms of the biscotti will have begun to brown lightly. Flip each of the cookies over on the baking sheet.
- Return the baking sheet to the oven to bake until the underside of the cookies is lightly golden brown. That will take about another 10 minutes if you've used almonds, 15 minutes if you haven't.
- For crunchier cookies, bake until golden brown on both sides, flipping as necessary and returning the baking sheet to the oven to finish baking. Do not bake the cookies long enough that they burn.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature before serving. The cookies will crisp as they cool.
- Once cool, the biscotti can be dipped in melted chocolate on one end, one side, or not at all.
- Store biscotti at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 days. Freeze any leftovers tightly wrapped in a freezer-safe container.
Notes
About the gluten free flour blend.
I like this recipe best when it's made with a combination of Better Batter gluten free flour original blend (or our mock Better Batter) and cornstarch. If you're using Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend (or our mock Cup4Cup), which is already high in cornstarch, replace the cornstarch with another 1/4 cup (36 g) Cup4Cup. About the vanilla and almond extracts.
You can use any combination of pure extracts you like, but don't use more than 1 teaspoon of almond extract as it's quite potent. When I add chopped almonds, I use 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Otherwise, I use 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and sometimes even add some vanilla seeds or vanilla bean paste. Originally published on the blog in 2013. Recipe adapted to provide option of eliminating almonds. Most photos, text, and video new.
I like this recipe best when it's made with a combination of Better Batter gluten free flour original blend (or our mock Better Batter) and cornstarch. If you're using Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend (or our mock Cup4Cup), which is already high in cornstarch, replace the cornstarch with another 1/4 cup (36 g) Cup4Cup. About the vanilla and almond extracts.
You can use any combination of pure extracts you like, but don't use more than 1 teaspoon of almond extract as it's quite potent. When I add chopped almonds, I use 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Otherwise, I use 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and sometimes even add some vanilla seeds or vanilla bean paste. Originally published on the blog in 2013. Recipe adapted to provide option of eliminating almonds. Most photos, text, and video new.