These cranberry pistachio biscotti are crisp, lightly sweet, and the perfect cookie to dip into coffee or tea. The combination of tart, dried cranberries, crunchy pistachios, and a hint of almond extract makes them perfectly flavorful on their own, but they're even better with a little drizzle of your favorite chocolate.
This classic Italian style cookie is baked twice to let it dry out and achieve its signature biscotti crunch, making it sturdy, long lasting, and the perfect addition to a holiday cookie tray or cookie swap.
These pistachio biscotti are a Christmas cookie favorite alongside some pistachio shortbread cookies, cookie sticks, coconut pecan cookies, and chocolate chai cookies!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Perfect texture - crunchy, ideal for dunking, and has a long shelf life!
Festive flavors - sweet and tart cranberries, nutty pistachios, and warm vanilla-almond flavor.
Great for gifting - pack these up in a cute jar and tie a bow around it! Biscotti is ideal for gifting and travels perfectly.
Ingredients
- Baking powder. A whole tablespoon of baking powder is used to give the cookie dough lift and airiness.
- Eggs. Bind the dough and give the biscotti and extra crisp texture once baked.
- Pistachios. Crunchy, nutty, and speckles of green all over!
- Dried cranberries. Gives tart, chewy bursts of flavor.
- Chocolate wafers. Optional, but makes for a delicious dip or drizzle. Use white, milk, or dark chocolate!
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Nuts - swap pistachios for almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, or walnuts.
- Fruit - use dried cherries, apricots, or blueberries.
- Spices - add 1 teaspoon cinnamon or ½ teaspoon cardamom to the dough for an extra pop of flavor.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Two: Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Three: Whisk together the dry ingredients and mix them into the wet ingredients.
Four: Add the chopped pistachios and dried cranberries and fold them in until evenly dispersed.
Five: Use floured hands to pat the dough into two even logs (12x3").
Six: Put them in the oven for the first bake.
Seven: Cut each loaf into 1" pieces on the bias.
Eight: Turn the pieces on their sides, and bake again.
Nine: Cool completely, then drizzle with melted chocolate.
Ten: Add a sprinkle of chopped nuts or dried fruit while the chocolate is still wet (optional).
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature butter and eggs so the dough mixes evenly.
- Cut the biscotti on a slight angle for bakery-style slices.
- Bake until lightly golden on the second bake. It will get crispier as it cools.
- Let the biscotti cool completely before drizzling with chocolate so it doesn't melt off.
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Testing Notes
- The recipe can take up to ¾ cup of dried cranberries and chopped pistachios without affecting the final bake. This felt a bit too "crunchy" when eating, so ½ cup or ⅔ cup was preferred.
- I liked the light addition of almond extract, as it brought out the pistachio flavor a bit more. You can totally leave it out!
- On all of my test batches, the biscotti almost baked together on the first bake. I'd recommend baking the "logs" on two different baking sheets just in case to prevent any crossover.
- I originally tested the full recipe at 350°F, but the second bake after cutting and turning the biscotti caused them to brown too much. A reduction to 325°F resulted in perfect, light brown cookies.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, just leave them out or replace the nut quantity with more dried fruit.
The double-bake allows them to fully dry out, which is what gives biscotti its signature crispness.
Melting wafers are the easiest option becuase it's already tempered, making for an easy melt, set and storage.
Storage
Store the biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. Note that chocolate-dipped pieces will only last about a week before the chocolate begins to discolor or taste slightly stale.
Freeze the biscotti in an airtight container for 3-4 months. Thaw at room temperature before storing and eating.
More Giftable Recipes You'll Love
What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
📖Recipe
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- 2 Large sheet pan
Ingredients
- 3⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ⅔ cup chopped or slivered pistachios
- ⅔ cup dried cranberries chopped
- ½ cup melting wafers white, or dark chocolate, for dipping or drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Grab another one, as you will likely need it later.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.3⅓ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Cream together the butter, sugar, and extracts in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer) until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1⅓ cups granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Add in the eggs one at a time, waiting until the first is incorporated before adding the next. Scrape down the sides at the end, and mix again.3 large eggs
- With the mixture running on low speed, add in the flour mixture in 3 separate additions. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix until almost combined, but some flour still shows. Add in the pistachios and cranberries, then mix on low until evenly dispersed. Finish mixing by hand, if needed.⅔ cup chopped or slivered pistachios, ⅔ cup dried cranberries
Baking
- Divide the dough into two equal pieces, then form them each into a plank about 12”x3”. Use floured hands, and keep each plank a couple of inches apart on the sheet. (See step-by-step pictures in the blog post for reference).
- Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden, then slice each plank into 1-inch pieces. I like to do it slightly diagonally for visual interest.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325℉.
- Turn each piece of biscotti so it’s cut side down (grab another sheet pan if you can’t fit them all). Bake again for 10 minutes. Flip each piece of biscotti and bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
- Cool completely.
- If desired, melt your choice of chocolate and dip half of the biscotti into the chocolate and return to the pan. You can also drizzle the chocolate over half.½ cup melting wafers
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