This festive cranberry biscotti recipe is sweet, tangy, deliciously crispy, and fun to make. Fresh cranberries and crunchy pistachios give these classic twice-baked Italian cookies a holiday spin!
Why you’ll love these biscotti cookies
I go on a baking spree every Christmas, preparing everything from honey cookies to classic linzer cookies and even coconut macaroons. However, no matter what, I always start with pistachio & cranberry biscotti!
If you’ve never made these twice baked Italian cookies, don’t worry. They might look impressive, but they’re actually quite easy to prepare.
- Flavor – On its own, biscotti is rich and sweet with a slightly nutty taste. Then, for this recipe, I add fresh cranberries and chopped pistachios for a hint of tanginess and an even nuttier flavor. Then, I with a white chocolate drizzle for extra decadence. The combination is out-of-this-world delicious!
- Texture – Each cookie comes out perfectly crisp and just waiting to be dipped into coffee or a mug of orange hot chocolate.
- Large batch – A single batch makes up to 28 mini cookies perfect for holiday parties and gifting.
Add this biscotti with cranberry and pistachio recipe to your list of irresistible Christmas cookies and treats this holiday season, and I guarantee they’ll become a staple for your holidays!
Key Ingredient Notes
- Fresh cranberries add a tart flavor and a beautiful pop of color.
- Pistachios – I like to use roasted pistachios for a slightly smokier taste. To save time, buy shelled varieties!
- Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter so you have better control over the flavor of the dough. If salted butter is all you have, just be sure to omit the extra salt.
- Granulated sugar sweetens the dough, offsetting some of the tartness of the cranberries.
- Eggs act as a binder, holding the biscotti cookies together.
- Vanilla extract – I always have a batch of homemade vanilla extract on hand, but you can use store-bought, too. Just make sure to use pure vanilla extract, not imitation varieties.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour to form the base of the biscotti dough. I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flour but think it would work if you use a 1:1 variety.
- White chocolate chips – These are optional but highly recommended for a sweet, picture-worthy glaze!
How to make this cranberry pistachio biscotti recipe
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
1. Make the dough
- Pulse the cranberries a few times in a food processor until fine crumbs form.
- Coarsely chop the pistachios.
- Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer!
- Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix again until well combined. This takes about 2 minutes or so.
- Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. The dough will be pretty sticky at this point, but don’t worry. That’s totally normal!
- Fold in the cranberries and pistachios.
2. Shape and bake
- Sprinkle a bit of flour on the prepared baking sheet.
- Transfer the dough onto the baking sheet using a silicone spatula. I love this silicone dough scraper, but any kind will work.
- Shape the dough into a log, roughly 11×3.5 inches in size. Or, divide the dough into two parts, and make narrower logs for mini cranberry pistachio biscotti.
Prevent sticking
Flour your hands before shaping the dough to prevent it from clinging to your fingers.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the biscotti from the oven, and set it aside to cool slightly.
- Cut the warm biscotti log into ¾-inch wide strips using a serrated knife, place them back on the baking sheet, and bake again for 10 minutes. For extra crunch, flip the cookies, and bake for another 10 minutes!
3. Decorate, if desired
- Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave until smooth, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Transfer the melted chocolate to a pastry bag with a small round tip. I use the Wilton #7! Or, you can use a Ziplock bag with a small hole cut in the corner.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the biscotti, and allow it to set before serving.
Swap the white chocolate
If preferred, feel free to use milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or dark chocolate instead of white chocolate. Personally, I love the slightly more bitter flavor!
Tips for Success
- Measure carefully, using a food scale if possible. As with any baked good, the key to achieving the perfect texture is using the proper ingredient ratios, which is easiest to do when measuring by weight. However, if you don’t have a food scale on hand, you can use the spoon and level method for your flour.
- Use room-temperature ingredients to allow for easy mixing.
- Avoid overmixing the dough, combining the ingredients just until smooth. Continuing to overmix is likely to overwork the gluten, which will cause your biscotti with cranberry and pistachio to turn out dense.
- Try not to use too much flour when adding it to your baking sheet. Otherwise, your biscotti will become heavy and dense, and we don’t want that!
- Make sure to slice your biscotti while it’s still warm. If you wait too long, the log will solidify and become crunchy, and you’ll be left with a giant cookie log. (Which might not be such a bad thing after all!)
Storing Tips
- Store leftover cranberry pistachio biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze biscotti for up to 3 months. To serve, let the cookies thaw in the fridge or at room temperature, and enjoy!
FAQs
The secret to creating bakery-worthy biscotti is to achieve a crispy texture all the way around. Some people like to stand them up flat, but I find that simply flipping them over partway through baking does the trick.
I prefer to use butter in place of oil because it creates a slightly denser consistency and adds a richer flavor.
Biscotti are meant to be pretty crunchy. However, if they’re too hard to eat, it’s likely because they were overbaked or left out too long. Make sure to keep a close eye on the oven, and try to keep them stored when you aren’t eating!
More Christmas Treats
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100 g) fresh cranberries
- ½ cup (60 g) roasted and shelled pistachios
- ¼ cup (55 g) unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup (130 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (85 g) white chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper or silicone mat.
- To make the dough: In a food processor, pulse the cranberries a few times until fine crumbs. And coarsely chop the pistachios.
- In a mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, or using an electric hand- mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, 2 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well combined, another 2 or so minutes.
- Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix just until well combined. The dough will be pretty sticky at this point, but don't worry, it's totally normal.
- Add cranberries and pistachios.
- To shape and bake the cookies: Sprinkle some flour on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer the dough onto the floured baking sheet using a silicone spatula. Form into about 11×3.5inch (28x9cm) log. Since the dough is quite sticky, flour your hands too.
- Alternatively, you can divide the dough into 2 parts and form 2 narrower logs to make mini biscotti.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.
- Then while the biscotti log is still warm, cut it into 3/4-inch wide strips, using a serrated knife. Place them back on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. For extra crunch, flip them and bake for another 10 minutes.
- To decorate (optional): If desired, melt white chocolate in a double boiler or microwave until smooth, stirring frequently. Transfer the melted chocolate to the pastry bag with small round tip (I used Wilton #7), or zip-lock bag with small hole cut in the corner, and drizzle over the biscotti.
⭐️ Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a review and let us know how you liked it!
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 5, 2014.
I made these for Christmas, but have never used this recipe before. I followed the recipe exactly, baked for 33 minutes, cut them, and baked for another 10 minutes, flipped them and baked another 10 minutes. They didn’t turn out like the typical hard, crunchy biscotti one would expect, but were rather crumbly and chunky. Also, because I opted not to add the melted white chocolate drizzle, the biscotti wasn’t very sweet. Altogether a disappointment.
I’ve made biscotti in the past that are much more true to the typical Italian product, so won’t be using this recipe again.
Hi, Barbara. What a bummer this biscotti recipe didn’t live up to your expectation. And thank you for trying my recipe and for your feedback.
Question whole? Cranberries or chopped?
Hi, VN. You start with whole fresh cranberries, and you pulse them in a food processor. Please read the instructions. 🙂
Love your recipes, thank you for sharing! !
My pleasure, Tonya!
Hi…..Can you use frozen cranberries?
Hi, Rose. I haven’t tested this recipe with frozen cranberries. If you do use it, make sure it’s thawed and excess liquid drained.
Hi, if you make the mini-biscotti, shouldn’t the baking time be shorter? What do you suggest?
II can’t wait to try this! Would this recipe freeze well?
Hi, Kaylee. Yes, these biscotti freeze well.
This was my first time making biscotti. This recipe was so easy and the finished product was delicious! I will definitely make it again.
Yay, so happy to read your comment. Thank you for sharing, Gloria!!
Great recipe with holiday color!. I substituted coconut sugar and added a little orange and lemon zest.
Just finished the first bake. They taste great however I had a little trouble with the top crumbling and some pieces breaking off. Any suggestions? These will be great to wake up to tomorrow!
Hi, Lisa! So glad you tried the recipe. Hope you liked these biscotti. Orange and lemon zest sounds like amazing addition, how was coconut sugar sub? And I know what you mean by top pieces breaking off. Did you use serrated knife? I find that serrated knife helps to make cleaner cut, also it’s much easier if you cut it while it’s still nice and warm. Again, hope you enjoyed the cookies and if you snapped a photo, don’t forget to submit it here. Thank you!
I love the combination of cranberries and pistachios. Plus biscotti are among my favorite cookies. Pinning for holiday baking time!
Thanks, Laura!