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These vanilla almond-flavored gluten free biscotti are twice-baked in the classic style. The result is the crispy, crunchy perfection we expect of only the very best biscotti. And they're even easier to make than drop cookies!
Why this recipe works
Without any butter or other added fat, these twice-baked cookies are made in the traditional Italian-style. They're super crunchy, but still tender since they become crispy in the oven even without the extra long baking time that can be necessary in recipes with added butter.
Since they're made in the no-butter style, they also stay fresher longer. Plus, they're stable enough to be shipped across the country for the holidays.
Like most classic biscotti, these firm, flavorful cookies are made with chopped almonds in the dough and a touch of almond extract. You can also make them plain without the nuts, increase the baking time a bit, and they bake up perfect every time.
How to make gluten free biscotti
The simple dough is baked in a flat log first. It's cooled briefly, and then sliced on the bias.
Once sliced, you'll begin to see the familiar shape that you know biscotti have.
After the first baking, the cookies are browned only on the edges, as those were all that has been exposed in the oven so far. Place them on their sides now, and bake again.
And crisp on both sides. This classic gf biscotti are are flavored with vanilla and almond, with just with vanilla.
You can then add a delicious, sweet crust of coarse sugar before baking, whether you've added almonds to the cookie dough or not. Dip them in melted chocolate for that coffee shop look!
Expert tips
This biscotti recipe is made with very few ingredients in one bowl, in the classic twice-baked style. Once you understand the general concept of how to make it, your very first batch will be as good as your 10th.
Check your oven temperature
Biscotti is baked as a single loaf at a classic baking temperature of 350°F, just until it's set enough to slice. The loaf will be barely set inside, but must have enough structure to be sliced.
Then, the temperature is lowered to 300°F and each side is baked until lightly (or golden) brown. If your oven temperature is too high for the second bake, the outside will brown before the center is crisp at all.
Adjust the baking time for different textures
Some people love their biscotti to be as crisp as possible without being burned, so they can dip each bite into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. If you like your biscotti like that, try baking for 10 minutes on each side at 300°F, and then returning them to the oven until golden brown all over.
If you prefer your cookies chewy in the center, so you can eat them easily bite by bite, without any dunking, the original baking times are likely enough. You can even lower the oven temperature to 275°F if you're not sure that they're baked all the way through but you don't want them too crisp.
Use a serrated knife
Your biscotti loaf won't be firm all the way through after the first bake. If you try to slice it with even a sharp, nonserrated knife, the center will probably collapse.
If you don't have a clean cut on each side of the cookies you're slicing, they won't crisp evenly in the oven during the second bake. A large bread knife is best, but even a tomato knife is preferable to a chef's knife.
Slice on the bias
Slicing the loaf into individual biscotti cookies on the bias just means on an angle, so you get the most flat surface area on either side of each cut. For the easiest slicing, try shaping your original log with the short sides both sharply angled in the same direction.
Popular ingredients substitutions
This gluten free biscotti recipe is already naturally dairy-free. Some Americanized recipes contain some oil or butter, but the only fat in this cookie dough (other than the chopped almonds, if you use them) is egg yolks.
Egg-free
Since there are only 2 eggs, you may be able to replace them with one “chia egg” each.
To make two chia eggs, place 2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds in a small bowl with 2 to 3 tablespoons lukewarm water. Mix, and allow the mixture to sit until it gels.
Almond-free
Other relatively dry mix-ins like miniature chocolate chips or toasted chopped hazelnuts will act like the almonds, and absorb some of the moisture in the loaf.
Mix-ins with more moisture, like small pieces of dried fruit, won't absorb moisture. Follow the recipe instructions for baking the biscotti when the almonds have been left out, and bake for a few more minutes at each stage.
Gluten Free Biscotti Recipe
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.
Video
Notes
My favorite all purpose gluten free flour blends are Better Batter's classic blend and Nicole's Best multipurpose blend, with added xanthan gum. Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 (in the blue bag) should also work here, but with an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum even though the blend already contains some, but not enough. For more information on the best flour blends, please see our all purpose gluten free flour blends page. About cornstarch. In place of cornstarch, try arrowroot. 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. Nutrition information is approximate and excludes the coarse sugar and melted chocolate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage suggestions
Biscotti will stay fresh, unwrapped, at room temperature for 2 days, and in a sealed glass container for at least 1 week. For longer storage, wrap them tightly wrapped in a freezer-safe container and freeze. Defrost at room temperature and they should regain crispness.
FAQ
Measure your ingredients by weight, not volume, and your biscotti dough will be extremely thick. It will rise up and out a bit during the first bake, and then not at all after the loaf is sliced and baked again.
If your biscotti aren't crunchy, you probably didn't bake them for long enough. They also may not have cooled enough before you broke into them, as they crisp during cooling.
If you store your biscotti in a plastic container or froze them after baking, they will soften as they absorb moisture. Store them in a sealed glass container at room temperature to maintain their texture.
If your original loaf of biscotti cracks during the first bake, your oven temperature may have been too high. You want the loaf to rise slowly at 350°F.
A little crack on top isn't a big problem, though. Just let it cool until no longer hot to the touch, and slice it very carefully by sawing back and forth with a serrated knife before the second bake.
Yes! The initial biscotti dough is relatively dry, but very sticky. You can moisten your hands a bit before shaping it, to make handling easier.
Biscotti should be as crispy as you like it! If you like it crispier, bake it longer (but not at a higher temperature).
No oil or butter in recipe?
Traditional Italian biscotti, which this recipe is, contains only fat from egg yolks, JoAnne.
I want to make this!
In recipe after cornstarch it says see notes. I do not see anything in notes about the cornstarch. Do I add it?
Thanks!
Hi, Annette, I would never have an ingredient in the list that you was optional unless that was made very clear (like it is for xanthan gum). The note about cornstarch is only if you need a substitute for it.
just made these last night and they came out fantastic. i was diagnosed with celiac about a year ago, and part of what made this news so tough was my love for baking. finding your website has been so encouraging for me! i love still being able to engage in one of my favorite hobbies. eating these biscotti with my morning cup of coffee as i write this. lovely.
So glad to hear that you loved the biscotti, Atty! I’m even more thrilled that you have a sense of empowerment that you can return to your hobby and not feel limited by having to do it gluten free. That’s the entire reason I started the blog in 2009, and that I still do it today. Thank you so much for sharing that. It means so much to me!
i am very sad because look fantastic but i am not able to get the recipe
I’m not sure why, Monica, since it’s at the bottom of the page, which you can get to by scrolling or by clicking the “jump to recipe” link at the top of the page. I hoep you enjoy the biscotti!
I’ve been craving biscotti for so long. Didn’t think it was possible to have now that I’ve gone gluten free. This was so good. Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Meg. I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
can you make biscotti using stevia instead of sugar?
I’m afraid you can’t make this recipe using Stevia in place of sugar, no, Maria. Stevia doesn’t perform like sugar in baking. I have had some success with Lankato brand monkfruit sweeteners in their various forms, but alternative sugars are quite drying and require moisture rebalancing. It’s really best if you begin with a keto recipe that was developed for use with alternative sugars.
Hi Nicole, I’m made these biscotti. My eggs didn’t weigh 100 g so I added some water. The biscotti turned out great and just the right thing to have with a cup of coffee! For my reference, what do you recommend doing if your eggs don’t weigh the required amount?
Thank you, Lillian
It depends on how short your eggs are, Lillian. Generally, if you’re more than 6 or 7 grams short of 50 grams per egg, and you’re using 2 eggs, I’d just beat another egg and add the missing amount. Glad you enjoyed them!
Thank you! I’ll remember that for next time.