Easy Gingerbread Biscotti
Wow, your guests with these easy gingerbread biscotti cookies filled with festive holiday flavors this Christmas. They are tender, yet crispy, subtly spicy and super delicious. Drizzle them with white chocolate and serve with hot chocolate, tea or coffee.
Kick off your morning with the best golden brown Italian cookies! They are perfectly crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the middle. The dough is spiced with ginger and other festive spices that will fill the house with a glorious aroma as they bake. And let’s not forget the drizzle of white chocolate that adds a hint of sweetness to every bite (I add it to my cranberry pistachio biscotti too!).
Why This Recipe Works
Gingerbread biscotti with crystallized ginger is a yummy twice baked treat to gift during the Christmas season. Not only does this recipe make a fairly large batch, but the Italian biscuits keep at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
It is easy to make too! Simply form the dough into two logs, bake, slice the dough and bake again. It calls for ginger, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to give the biscotti its tasty flavor (similar to hermit cookies). Crystallized ginger, light brown sugar and molasses for sweetness and white chocolate for drizzle.
Ingredient Notes
- Ginger: Combine good quality ground ginger with other spices and dry ingredients to give the biscotti its ginger flavor. Make sure your spices aren’t expired for best results!
- Crystallized ginger: This is ginger rolled in sugar and dried. It adds a strong sweet ginger flavor and chewy texture to the biscotti.
- Molasses: This sweet, smoky sweetener has a thick syrup-like texture and adds sweetness to the gingerbread biscotti. Use unsulphured molasses, not blackstrap, which is too bitter.
- Light brown sugar: Is the sugar of choice because it has a distinctive caramel flavor that works well in this gingerbread biscotti recipe.
- White chocolate melting wafers: Use good quality white chocolate melting wafers for the best results when drizzling.
Refer to the recipe card for ingredient notes and measurements.
Recipe Variations
These cookies are very versatile and can be made with lots of different add ins. For example, You can give these cookies some crunch by adding 1/2 cup chopped pistachios before shaping the dough into logs.
For a more fruity flavor add 1/2 cup dried apricots or dried cranberries. If you are a chocolate lover, then feel free to mix in 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, semi or dark chocolate chips before shaping the dough into two logs.
How to Make Gingerbread Biscotti
- Make the dough: Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- Whisk flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground all spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Next, mix together eggs, molasses, and vanilla for about 1 minute in a separate bowl.
- Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Expert Tips
Use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients. Most pitfalls occur when ingredients are measured incorrectly. Invest in a good-quality weighing scale to avoid this.
Let the logs of biscotti cool for 10 minutes after the first bake. This will ensure that they do not crumble when they are sliced. In addition, be sure to use a serrated knife and cut in a sawing motion to help the dough maintain its shape as it is being cut.
Flip the biscotti over halfway through. During the second bake, you must flip the biscotti over halfway through to ensure that the cookies are baked evenly.
Store gingerbread biscotti in an airtight container or holiday tin at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Add parchment paper between each layer to ensure that the white chocolate drizzle stays intact.
Recipe FAQ
Yes, place the biscotti in an airtight container and place parchment paper between each layer so the gingerbread biscotti doesn’t stick together. The container must be airtight to prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost the cookies leave them at room temperature to thaw then bake them for 10 minutes at 350ºF to remove excess moisture.
You can chill the dough for about 30 minutes before baking however, it is not necessary for this recipe. The cookies will still maintain their shape if the dough is not chilled.
Traditional biscotti does not call for butter or oil so in this recipe, eggs and molasses are used to bind the ingredients.
Biscotti is supposed to be crunchy, but if it is too crunchy or hard then it was probably baked for too long. Dunking the biscotti in coffee, tea or milk when eating can help to soften them.
Related Recipes
Give these recipe a try if you love biscotti recipes.
Did you love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below and if you REALLY loved it, consider leaving a comment further down the page.
Get the Recipe: Easy Gingerbread Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (281 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups (250 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses, (not blackstrap)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons crystallized or candied ginger, optional
- 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Line baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients—flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground all spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together eggs, molasses, and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minute. Slowly add the flour mixture and crystallized ginger (if using). Mix until it forms a doughy ball, about 2 minutes.² Scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl if necessary.
- Flour work surface and transfer dough to the surface. Divide dough in half and form each half into a log about 10 inches by 2 inches.
- Place logs about 4 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, the surface will spring back when gently touched. Let cool 10-15 minutes.
- While the logs are still warm, move from baking sheet to cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut log into 3/4 inch slices on the diagonal. Place slices back on parchment lined pans, cut sides down. Repeat with second log.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325° F. Bake 10 minutes, flipping biscotti over half way through. The baking time depends on how dry you like your biscotti. Longer baking time (15 minutes) makes a harder, crunchier biscotti. Let biscotti cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, use a double boiler or microwave to melt 1 cup white chocolate melting wafers (see tips for melting chocolate here). Use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over the biscotti. Allow chocolate to harden and enjoy with your coffee!
Notes
Adapted from: Baking Illustrated and That Skinny Chick Can Bake
21 Comments on “Easy Gingerbread Biscotti”
That was a funny story Haley; it reminds me of when I first made biscuits: I didn’t even know that you’re not supposed to knead the dough, so they clearly came out hard as hockey pucks. So blondes aren’t the only one who have bad days in the kitchen lol
I made biscotti myself as one of my “Christmas cookies” a few days ago, but I’ve never heard of gingerbread biscotti before. Yours looks pretty good 🙂
I LOVE the song “We Need a Little Christmas” too; Glee’s cover is pretty awesome 🙂
I guess it happens to the best of us! The gingerbread biscotti turned out lovely and tasted great with the white chocolate, too. I have Glee’s Christmas CD around here somewhere, I’ll have to listen to their cover!
hee hee hee! It happens to all of us, or at least me, and I’m not blonde. It’s awful when you forget an important ingredient! These look absolutely gorgeous, by the way, for not have made biscotti before!
Thank you Mimi! Second time’s the charm 🙂
Yum! These look so beautiful!
Made these this morning, delish!! Went perfect with coffee by the fireplace on this chilly morning!
Perfect! Thanks for the feedback, Stephanie!
Yummy! <3 I want to have some, please.
Beautifully done! Thanks for the mention 🙂
No problem, thank you for the inspiration!
Hahaha! Can’t stop laughing! But we all have those days! You’re lucky to have the baking Bible to help you, that’s actually a book I need to get!
About the gorgeous looking (as always) biscottis, they look divine! I love the drizzled white chocolate!
Just wondering where you would use the candied ginger – I just made them 😉
Realy delicious!
These are our go to Christmas biscotti but we cut back on the spices and find we always need 1/4 cup more flour to get a dough ball. We also like longer, thinner cookies. 2×10 are too thick. Otherwise great recipe!
Does this recipe really not have any butter, oil or shortening required?
Hi Deb – That is correct. I tested this recipe with butter and the biscotti does not last nearly as long (only a day or two). This recipe contains eggs instead. Without butter or oil the biscotti lasts longer. It will be crisp a week later and the flavor, in my opinion, gets better with time.
can we use aniseeds instade of genger ???????thanx
Hi Maha, yes you can use anise if you prefer. I can’t recommend an amount though since I haven’t tried that substitution.
I have used this recipe for a few years now and always love it. I do find that the dough can be a bit dry and crumbly so, I add a few teaspoons of orange juice and it comes together and tastes great. Thank you.
This a delicious gingerbread biscotti recipe. The right amount of spices. Made this on Thursday and making more today; Sunday, per husband’s request.
This biscotti is so comforting and warm! A little more chewy than other recipes I’ve tried but still incredible!