Orange Almond Biscotti are perfectly crisp on the edges and melt in the mouth after dipping in coffee or tea! These eggless biscotti are full of almonds and have the perfect zing of orange juice and zest.
These Orange Almond Biscotti are buttery, crunchy, flaky, and made without eggs. So, if you are looking for an eggless and delicious biscotti recipe, you have landed at the right place!
About Orange Almond Biscotti
Biscotti are Italian cookies, and the word biscotti literally means twice baked. It is very easy to customize the biscotti recipe by adding our choice of nuts, chocolate chips, or dried fruits.
The recipe is easy to follow, and the dough comes together quickly. However, the process is long as these cookies need to be baked twice. But it is not difficult as the baking time is more than actual hands-on time!
We need essential ingredients for making biscotti. They are most likely available in our pantry. I have used butter and not oil in this recipe. I have tried the recipe using both oil and butter. But I loved the buttery flavor of the biscotti with almonds and orange.
I have lightly toasted almonds before chopping them. The toasting nuts enhance the flavor, so I will highly recommend it. Also, coarsely chop the almonds rather than using the whole. If we throw whole almonds into the dough, cutting the dough log after the first baking is tricky.
To handle the dough, place it onto a clean and lightly floured surface and turn the dough into two logs. Bake it, and then allow them to cool down a bit. And when they are still a little warm, slice them. Bake the orange almond biscotti slices again until they are lightly brown on the edges.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- These Orange Almond Biscotti are buttery, crispy, and flaky.
- They are loaded with almonds.
- These cookies are refreshing with fresh orange flavor.
- The recipe is easy to follow, with step-by-step instructions.
- Orange Almond Biscotti are eggless and perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.
Ingredients and Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: I have used unbleached all-purpose flour, and I will recommend using the same.
- Baking Powder: It acts as a leavening agent and helps biscotti spread and rise. Do not replace the baking powder with baking soda.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter, and butter must be softened to room temperature. Also, creaming butter and sugar is very important for light and tender biscotti.
- Sugar: It provides sweetness and volume to the biscotti. These biscotti are not too sweet, so for a sweeter biscotti, add 175g of granulated sugar.
- Cornstarch + Water: This mixture provides binding and moisture to the biscotti dough. Basically, it works as an egg replacer without using any weird or fancy egg replacements.
- Salt: It provides a delicious contrast to the sweetness of the biscotti.
- Orange Juice and Zest: They provide fresh flavors to these biscotti. Use freshly squeezed juice for the recipe.
- Vanilla: Adds sweet and warm flavor to these orange almond biscotti.
- Almonds: Use unsalted and whole almonds. Toast them lightly and then roughly chop the almonds. Do not throw whole almonds into the dough.
How To Make Orange Almond Biscotti
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Line the baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Lightly toast almonds and chop coarsely. Set aside.
- Mix 2 tablespoon cornstarch with 4 tablespoon of water in a small bowl and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Whisk everything well and set it aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium to high speed until creamy, light, and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the cornstarch and water mixture, vanilla, and orange zest, and beat until everything is well combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Add the dry ingredients and orange juice and mix on low speed to combine.
- Next, add the chopped almonds and mix to distribute thoroughly. However, make sure not to overmix.
- Place the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface or baking mat.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts.
- Place the dough balls onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Shape each dough into a log, about 9 inches long and 2 inches wide.
- Keep both logs on a baking sheet with at least 3 inches of space between them.
- If using a small baking sheet, bake one log at a time.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is firm to touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet.
- However, do not let the logs cool completely.
- Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board when they are still warm.
- Use the serrated knife to cut the logs into even diagonal slices.
- There will be a total of 26-28 slices.
Note: It is essential to cut the orange almond biscotti logs when they are still warm. If they are left to cool completely, it will be difficult to slice the biscotti. Also, make sure to use a sharp knife.
- Transfer the biscotti back onto a baking sheet, laying them flat and just a small space between them.
- Return the biscotti to the oven and bake them again at 325° F for 15-25 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges.
- Because every oven is different, you may need to bake the biscotti a little longer than 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the biscotti to cool on the baking tray.
- The biscotti can be kept in an airtight container for at least two weeks.
Baking Tips
Flour: For the perfect Orange Almond Biscotti, make sure to measure the flour correctly. I will suggest using a kitchen scale. If using the cup method, fluff your flour with the spoon and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Then, level it off with the knife.
Do Not Overmix: Do not overwork the dough; otherwise, it will end up in dense and crumbly biscotti.
Butter: Butter should be softened to room temperature before creaming the butter and sugar.
Almonds: Lightly toast the almonds for the best flavors and chop them roughly. Instead of almonds, you can use other nuts as well.
FAQ For Orange Almond Biscotti
Yes! You can entirely skip almonds from the recipe. Or you can substitute them with your choice of nuts. Instead of almonds, we can also use pecans or hazelnuts. But for any nuts you add, make sure to toast them lightly before using them in the recipe. Also, you can use chocolate chips instead of nuts if you prefer.
Some recipes don’t need any extra ingredients to make it egg-free. However, we need an additional element for some recipes to make eggless recipes successful. Especially for specific recipes, we need something for binding and moisture. That is why I used a mixture of cornstarch and water. However, for each recipe, there is a different requirement; we can not use cornstarch mixture as a standard egg substitute. But for this recipe, it worked like a wonder. It binds and moistens biscotti. The dough will be stiff and crumbly if we do not use this mixture. And cornstarch is a general ingredient and is mostly available in everyone’s pantry. So, there is no need to buy any store-bought fancy egg replacer.
There are a couple of significant reasons for this issue. When you bake the biscotti logs the first time, do not overbake. Bake until the logs are firm enough to touch, and a toothpick inserted in the log comes out clean. If we overbake at this point, the logs will become harder and dry, and the orange almond biscotti will fall apart while cutting. The other reason is that if we let the logs cool down completely, it will be difficult to cut them into biscotti. Slice the logs after the first baking when they are still warm. Also, remember that there are almond chunks in the biscotti logs, so use a sharp knife for cutting.
More Eggless Cookies
Recipe Card
Eggless Orange Almond Biscotti / Eggless Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoon water
- ½ cup (114g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ cup (60ml) orange juice
- 1 cup (150g) almonds (lightly toasted and chopped)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line the baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Lightly toast almonds and chop coarsely. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk everything well and set it aside.
- Mix 2 tablespoon cornstarch with 4 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, and set aside.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium to high speed until creamy, light, and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the cornstarch and water mixture, vanilla, and orange zest, and beat until everything is well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Add the dry ingredients and orange juice and mix on low speed to combine. Next, add the chopped almonds, and mix to distribute thoroughly. However, make sure not to overmix.
- Place the dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface or baking mat. Divide the dough into two equal parts.
- Place the dough balls into a prepared baking sheet. Shape each dough into a log, about 9 inches long and 2 inches wide.
- Keep both logs on a baking sheet with at least 3 inches of space between them. If using a small baking sheet, bake one log at a time.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is firm to touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet. However, do not let the logs cool completely.
- Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board when they are still warm. Use the serrated knife to cut the logs into even diagonal slices. There will be a total of 26-28 slices.
- Transfer the biscotti back onto a baking sheet, laying them flat and just a small space between them.
- Return the biscotti to the oven and bake them again at 325° F for 15-25 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges.
- Because every oven is different, you may need to bake the biscotti a little longer than 15-20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow the biscotti to cool on the baking tray.
- The biscotti can be kept in an airtight container for at least two weeks.
Notes
- Flour: For the perfect biscotti, measure the flour correctly. I will suggest using a kitchen scale. If using the cup method, fluff your flour with the spoon and then spoon it into a measuring cup. Then level it off with the knife.
- Do Not Overmix: Do not overwork the dough; otherwise, it will end up in dense and crumbly biscotti.
- Butter: Butter should be softened to room temperature before creaming the butter and sugar.
- Almonds: Lightly toast the almonds for the best flavors and chop them roughly. Instead of almonds, you can use other nuts as well.
Nutrition (Approximate Values)
Anu says
Hii.. Can I use powdered sugar? As my granulated sugar is too big in size. Kindly reply. TIA
Jigna says
Hi, yes, you can use powdered sugar. But you will need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar. However, an easy option is to throw your granulated sugar to a blender jar and grind into a coarse powder.
Anonymous says
ok. Thanks a lot 🙂
Kamna Choudhry says
I used flour as per orange almond biscotti while making tropical biscotti..how is it going to alter the texture or taste? And i think i overbaked the first time…as it has become crumbly..please advise.
Jigna says
Hi Kamna, both biscotti recipes are almost similar except for the amount of flour. Orange almond biscotti has more flour because it requires orange juice. While there is no liquid is used for tropical biscotti. So, if you use more flour than mentioned in the recipe, you may get dry and crumbly biscotti.
And yes, overbaking the log can also result in lots of crumbs while cutting it into the biscotti.
Oopa says
Hi,
Made this twice. Tasted very good.
It was crumbling while cutting.
The first time, when it crumbled, I assumed I must have cut It tad early.
Secone time i waited for some more time, but it still was crumbling.
My size was 10 x3 … as I found 9 x 2 too small & thick.
Did that make a difference? I bake it for exactly 25 minutes as it was thinner.
Any suggestion please how to get neat cut.
Jigna says
Hi, when you bake the log, do not overbake. It should be firm upon touch but still soft inside. The baking time may vary, so keep an eye on the oven after 15 minutes. After removing it from the oven, do not let it cool completely. Slice it when the log is still warm and soft, and use a sharp knife.
However, please note that because of almonds, it is hard to cut this biscotti perfectly without crumbs. So, expect the light crumbs while slicing the log.
Vinutha Rao says
Hi. Chill well the semi baked dough n then cut it with a serrated knife. You’ll get neat slices without any crumble. I’ve tried this recipe n it came out well. Thank you Jigna for the recipe💕💕
Jigna says
Hi Vinutha, it’s nice to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing the helpful tips!