This Christmas biscotti with cranberries, rosemary and dark chocolate is a unique and delicious flavor combination that is perfect for Christmas.
It may sound like an unusual flavor combination, but it is rather tasty. AND Christmas-y with all the red and green.
Biscotti’s BFF is a cup of strong coffee. These are perfect for dunking in a piping hot cup o’ joe, and they are definitely a unique take on the traditional Christmas cookie recipe.
Base biscotti recipe
Have you ever picked up a biscotti and tried to bite into it and almost broken a tooth? What I love about this particular biscotti recipe is that it is NOT break-your-teeth crunchy. You can totally grab one and nosh on it by itself.
SO! Even of you think my flavor combination for this Christmas biscotti sounds a little wonky, you might want to bookmark or pin this one as a great “base” biscotti recipe. Feel free to flavor it up however your little heart desires.
And be sure and check out my dessert recipe archives here for more yummy treat inspiration.
How to make Christmas biscotti
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to.
To make this Christmas biscotti recipe, you will need the following:
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- fresh rosemary leaves
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- fresh cranberries
- Baker’s dark chocolate melting wafers
- water
How to make biscotti
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the cranberries plus 2 tablespoons of sugar into a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary.
Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, until well-incorporated. Add the vanilla.
Gently stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chopped cranberries.
Optional: If the dough is too crumbly and not holding together, add 1 Tablespoon water, and mix to incorporate. (I have made this recipe probably a dozen times, and I have had to do this twice. Use a little more, if needed, but add it slowly. A little goes a long way!) The dough should look like this.
Divide the dough in half, and shape into two logs 12 inches long, 2 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch high.
Bake for 35 minutes, and then remove, leaving the oven on.
After letting it cool for about 5 minutes (they will still be warm), cut each log into 1/2 inch slices on the diagonal.
Place the slices back on the baking sheet (use two baking sheets to fit all the pieces).
Bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, and turn each piece of biscotti over.
Return to the oven and bake for another 7-8 minutes until crisp. Let them cool.
After the Christmas biscotti have cooled, melt the Baker’s dark chocolate according to package instructions.
Drizzle the melted dark chocolate on top of the cooled biscotti. (You can use a spoon to drizzle. Or if you want them to look prettier, use a sandwich bag with a tiny tip cut out, and squeeze to distribute.)
It will take about 30 minutes for the dark chocolate to harden. Serve when cooled and set, or store in an airtight container for up to a week.
And pro tip: these Christmas biscotti are great for dunking in milk, coffee or hot chocolate.
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Christmas Biscotti with Cranberries, Rosemary and Dark Chocolate
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves finely chopped
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, 1 stick
- 3/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons (divided)
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 9 servings Baker’s dark chocolate melting wafers (I used about 2/3 of one 7 ounce container)
- 1 Tablespoon water (optional, if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put the cranberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar into a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary.
- Using an electric mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until well-incorporated.
- Add the vanilla.
- Gently stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
- Fold in the chopped cranberries.
-
Optional: If the dough is too crumbly and not holding together, add 1 Tablespoon water, and mix to incorporate. (I have made this recipe probably a dozen times, and I have had to do this twice. Use a little more, if needed, but add it slowly. A little goes a long way!)
- Divide the dough in half, and shape into two logs 12 inches long, 2 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch high.
- Bake for 35 minutes, and then remove, leaving the oven on.
- After letting it cool for about 5 minutes (they will still be warm), cut each log into 1/2 inch slices on the diagonal.
- Place the slices back on the baking sheet (use two baking sheets to fit all the pieces), and bake for 7-8 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven, and turn each piece of biscotti over.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 7-8 minutes until crisp.
- Let them cool.
- After the biscotti have cooled, melt the Baker’s dark chocolate according to package instructions.
- Drizzle the melted dark chocolate on top of the cooled biscotti. (You can use a spoon to drizzle. Or if you want them to look prettier, use a sandwich bag with a tiny tip cut out, and squeeze to distribute.) It will take about 30 minutes for the dark chocolate to harden.
- Serve when cooled and set, or store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Recipe Notes
Nutritional information is approximate and was generated using a nutrition label generator.
Christmas biscotti originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy December 18, 2014. It has been updated with new photos. Here is what it used to look like.
Your 99 Status says
Fresh cranberries are hard to come by in my neighbourhood. Can I use dried cranberries instead of fresh?
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
That should work. You may need to add a tad more moisture (water) to the dough, FYI. Just add tiny bits at a time until it all comes together in one dough ball. Enjoy!
Mickie says
Don’t understand the last ing….9 cups? Sentence ends at: Bakers dark chocolate melting wafers about 2/3 of one of the ( sentence ends here). 2/3 of what?…
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Thank you so much for this comment! I recently switched recipe plugins, and when I migrated some of my recipes over, it messed up the wording of some of my recipes. I check them all, but sometimes my eyes don’t see obvious errors like this. It is supposed to say 9 servings of bakers chocolate melting wafers. I used about 2/3 of one of those 7 ounce cups. Hope this helps! And so sorry for the confusion.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
And how funny! I actually just made a batch of these today. 🙂
Anahit says
I have difficulty to find fresh cranberries in my neighborhood. Can I replace fresh cranberries with dried ones?
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Thanks for your question! 🙂 That should work fine. No need to add sugar to them, though, since most dried cranberries already have sugar in them.
Robin @thebakingexchange says
Hi marjorie, ive been looking for a biscotti recipe with whole cranberries, not dried ones, so i am definitely bookmarking. Thanks!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
I hope you enjoy it Robin! 🙂
Liziheartvegetables says
Yum that looks delicious! Perfect with a cup of coffee 🙂
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Thanks Liz! I just ate some with my mom and sister this morning. 🙂 There is something about having family here that makes everything taste better.
Jessie Gipe says
Made this recipe this morning – Joshua was a huge fan! Unfortunately mine didn’t look as pretty. Oh well. Thanks for sharing, Marjorie!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
I am so happy that Joshua enjoyed it! 🙂 The first few I drizzled were a mess, until I finally got the hang of it. I removed those from the photos…LOL.