A delicious orange-flavored crunchy Biscotti with dark chocolate chips, is the perfect end-of-meal dessert or afternoon snack, especially if dipped in warm tea or sweet wine. It's a perfect Italian Holiday cookie and a great edible gift idea for friends and family. It's very easy to make, and you only need one bowl and a few ingredients.
Biscotti, or Cantucci, is a traditional and very common cookie in Tuscany. It's served in every Tuscan trattoria at the end of the meal and it's common to dip in Tuscan sweet wine called Vin Santo. The original recipe of Cantucci is made with almonds and honey, but in modern days is very common to find in commerce a variety of flavors. The best combination, in my opinion, is the orange and chocolate Biscotti.
Chocolate and orange together remind me of Christmas, Terry's Chocolate Orange, and candied orange peels dipped in chocolate (my absolute weakness).
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What is Biscotti?
The word Biscotti in Italian is commonly used to call every cookie. These "Biscotti" are actually called "Cantucci" and they're a traditional Tuscan cookie from the city of Prato. They're also called "Biscotti di Prato" (meaning "Cookies from Prato"). I believe this is where the international name of Biscotti came from, to identify these delicious elongated crunchy cookies.
What does Biscotti means?
The word "Biscotti" literally means "baked twice" and that's why it's more commonly associated with these Cantucci cookies, as they're actually baked twice.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Flour: I use standard all-purpose flour for this recipe. You can also use self-raising flour and skip the baking powder, or use other types of flour like wholemeal, spelt, or other grains, but I cannot guarantee the taste and consistency.
- Sugar: White sugar or light brown sugar can be used in this recipe. You can also try it with coconut sugar or brown muscovado sugar, but the taste and end result might differ.
- Eggs: You can use regular medium-sized eggs.
- Dark chocolate chunks: I prefer chocolate chunks in these cookies, but you can also substitute them with dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Orange Zest: Fresh orange zest will give the best taste and end result. You can alternatively substitute with orange extract.
- Honey: Honey is a crucial ingredient in biscotti. You can use any type of honey you like.
- Baking Powder: A bit of baking powder will help the biscotti be more crumbly.
How do you make Chocolate Orange Biscotti?
These cookies are very easy to make. The main difference between other types of cookies is that you only need one bowl and the dough does not require any chilling or resting.
The most important step is to whisk energetically the eggs with sugar until they become light and foamy. You can do this step with an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer for better and faster results.
Then, you only need to add all the other ingredients to the bowl and mix well until you get a sticky cookie dough.
Wet your hands and form the log shapes on a baking tray. They should be about 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) wide and can take the whole length of the baking tray. Keep the logs at least 3-4 inches (8-10 cm) away from each other.
With wet hands smooth the surface as much as possible (you can also try with a wet spoon). Then, sprinkle with sugar and bake in the preheated oven at 180°C (375°F) for 20-25 minutes.
Let the logs cool down slightly, then cut them up. Turn the chocolate orange biscotti on their side on the baking tray. Then, bake a second time for a few minutes more.
Storage
You can store baked and cooled biscotti in a metal cookie tin or a ceramic cookie jar. But for the best result to keep the perfect crunch for a longer time, I recommend storing them in a large airtight glass jar or airtight cookie jar.
Recipe FAQs
I don't recommend dried orange zest as it doesn't have the same flavor as fresh. As an alternative, you can use a bit of orange extract, but it still won't give you the same flavor and result.
Yes, you can make the dough in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 1 day, already shaped. Or you can bake them, cut them, and freeze them, then you can do the second bake whenever you want.
The dough is supposed to be very sticky so you're doing everything right! To shape the dough into logs, wet your hands with cold water or use a wet spoon or spatula.
How can I make Biscotti less hard?
Cantucci are made for dipping. That's why they're quite hard and crunchy. If you don't dip them in sweet wine, tea, or coffee, they're sometimes very hard to eat.
Personally, though, I love to crunch on cookies whenever I crave them, without having to dip them every time. So I prefer to make them slightly softer so they can be easily enjoyed with or without dipping.
To leave them softer, the cooking time is crucial. Remove the logs from the oven when they turn golden and after you cut them into the Biscotti shapes. You can then choose to not do the second bake or to bake them just a few minutes more, depending on how cooked they are inside. Do not bake them for more than 5 minutes on the second bake, otherwise, they'll turn quite hard and crunchy.
I then store the cooled cookies in tin cookie boxes or a glass cookie jar.
Related recipes you might like
If you like this recipe, try these other sweet recipes too:
- Classic Tuscan Biscotti with Almonds
- "Cavallucci" Tuscan Christmas cookies with walnuts
- Chestnut cookies with Pumpkin spice jam
- Raspberry Chocolate mini Bundt cakes
- Cenci, Carnival fried ribbons
If you tried this recipe, please take a moment to rate it and share your thoughts in the comments. Your feedback means a lot to me! ★★★★★
📖 RECIPE
Chocolate Orange Biscotti
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ¾ cups Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- ⅔ cup Dark chocolate, chunks or chips
- 3 Oranges, zest
- 2 ½ tablespoon Honey
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven a 180°C (375°F) Whisk energetically the 4 eggs with the sugar until they become light and fluffy. Use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer for better results.
- Add the zest of 3 oranges, honey, baking powder, dark chocolate chunks, and the flour and mix with a spoon until you get a sticky dough.
- Wet your hands and make 2 or 3 loaves 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) wide and about 1 inch (3 cm) thick for the whole length of your baking tray. Keep each loaf at least 3-4 inches (8-10 cm) away from each other.
- With wet hands or a wet spoon, smooth the top surfaces as much as possible, then sprinkle some sugar on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden on top.
- Let them cool for a few minutes than cut them into slices. Now place the Biscotti again on the baking tray with the cut side facing up and bake again for few more minutes to make them crunchy. If you want your Cantucci to be a little bit softer, you can skip the second bake.
- Let them cool completely before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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