Delicious Christmas Biscotti With Cherry, Almond & Pistachio

This Christmas biscotti recipe was first published on December 11, 2021.

One more Christmas recipe, of course. And I thought the best way to kind of bring this season to an (almost) end is to go back to my homeland, Italy. Hence why the recipe for these Christmas holiday biscotti. Around here, we all love something to dunk in our teas and coffees as a treat, and these Christmas biscotti are just the perfect ones.This christmas

Biscotti are pretty famous in Italy, and you might even find them under different names, like cantucci. I will make sure to go through their history, I promise. Just stay patient for now and keep reading, it’s worth your time!

Christmas, as we said a few (thousands) times before, it’s possibly our favourite time of the year. We usually get together with our family or friends. And even these past couple of years, with our lovely flatmates, we have had a brilliant Christmas considering the times. It’s just all about that togetherness and feeling like we’re all family that we love. And the food, of course. We just love Christmas food! I mean, honestly, who doesn’t? You can be a Grinch and just still love the food because it is something out of this world. Admit it, come on. We are already planning our menu for this year and so far, the whole household has agreed on having the vegan mushroom Wellington again.

I mean, everyone has their Christmas traditions, I am sure. We have movies and food, games and just plenty of time together. By movies, of course, I mean Disney animated movies all through the Christmas and New Year’s weeks. For food, anything our grandma has planned and been cooking for years now: fish menu on the 24th December, meat menu on the 25th December, leftover from the 26th onwards. And then start again: 31st of December is fish, and all things deep-fried, my favourite kind of menu. And then on the 1st is all about meat again.

I promise we do have vegetables in between. But it’s tendentially deep-fried. Also, one thing to note is that when we’re in Rome, we barely have any sweet stuff, which to me is simply outrageous. I am the one running to the supermarket the moment we land for my pandoro fix, can you believe that?!

I do not tend to bake when we are there.

Which to be completely honest, it’s down to the fact that my grandma is a kitchen boss and won’t let us in. I attempted a quick french toast once as she was napping, and I mean, she sniffed it in her sleep. Came running in to check I didn’t scratch her pans. Go figure it. I guess it’s also where I got my possessiveness for pans from. But enough of me mumbling about Rome and my grandma, and more about me talking about this recipe for christmas biscotti.

The Christmas Biscotti you need. Or maybe not. But I know they taste insanely great and you most definitely need to at least try them. Now do not expect a soft, chewy texture here. Oh no, these are called Christmas biscotti for a reason: they are hard. Will break your teeth kind of hard. But so extremely delicious, you will forgive them for being so crunchy. And if you cannot eat one as it is, you will dunk all your Christmas biscotti until they are soft enough. The Italians are famous for dunking theirs in wine, but wait a minute and I shall tell you everything about that!

What are biscotti, or cantucci.

Biscotti, also known as cantucci, are an Italian biscuit made with almonds, which is originally from Tuscany. Or better, the city of Prato to be completely exact. Prato is a beautiful city, famous for Donatello, Lippi and Botticelli, but also for its cantucci. These were invented right here during the Middle Ages and are, to this day, still produced by local bakers. The whole idea behind biscotti is that people used to use poor ingredients to make them, and everything is local to the city they are from. While we are not going to be so selective with them, we are still able to enjoy some great biscotti wherever in the world. Including these Christmas biscotti which are spiced on point, packed with nuts and fruit and oh so tasty.

What’s pretty striking with these biscotti is their texture and shape. In fact, you will be baking these twice and their shape is oblong, almost looking like a finger. As I mentioned above, the people from Tuscany, and Prato in particular, will be dipping their Christmas biscotti in Vin Santo, Holy Wine. This is none other than a style of Italian dessert wine made from white grapes like Trebbiano and Malvasia. Sometimes they also use some Sangiovese to produce a more rosé version of it. The name, you ask? Well, I’d be curious too, given the fact that it’s holy wine! Well, this wine was originally called like this because it was a common one to be used during Catholic Mass. Nowadays, the name reflects more the style in which the grapes are dried and dealt with once they are ready to produce it. Funny that, right?

What ingredients do I need to make the Christmas biscotti?

As I said above, the original ingredients for the biscotti, and in this case for the Christmas biscotti recipe, are very basic. I guess the most extravagant ingredient in the Christmas biscotti might be the mixed spice. Or at the very least extravagant for an Italian, put it that way. We love our ingredients that are traditional, simple and just what we know, usually!

The nuts we picked for this Christmas biscotti recipe are the traditional almonds, of course, and pistachios. Now, we have gone for blanched almonds, and by blanched we mean with no skin on. The pistachios, on the other hand, are with skin on.

Blanching almonds it’s pretty easy and straightforward:

• Place your raw almonds in boiling water for one minute exactly;
• Drain the almonds immediately and rinse them with cold water to cool them down;
• Dry them with some paper towel, you’ll see the skin will feel like it moves around already;
• Squeeze out the almond from the skin or rub them in between two kitchen towels until all the almonds are skinless.

As for the rest of the ingredients, we have added cherries and raisins to create some softer texture against the crunchiness of the biscotti itself. No cranberry or dried cranberries, as I wanted to keep them sweeter rather than sharp. Of course, you will have flour and baking powder too, plus sugar. The basics, really.

So, as you can see, the Christmas biscotti are very simple in ingredients, yet pack a punch in terms of flavours and flavour combinations!

How do I make the Christmas biscotti?

The dough itself for these Christmas biscotti it’s pretty easy to put together, and while you’ll be twice-baking the biscotti, you won’t be spending too much time making them.

You’ll start, as usual with most recipes, by preheating the oven. I know, I always skip this step and turn my oven on only when I am pretty much ready to bake. Do you do the same? Well, in this case I strongly advise you not to, if you are like me. These will be ready in minutes and you want your oven piping hot.

Once this is done, grab a big bowl and mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and spices. Then you’ll add the eggs and knead the dough quickly to get it together. While this will take a bit, make sure you incorporate all the ingredients properly before adding the nuts and fruits!

After the fruit and nuts are in, you’ll divide the dough into four and, with slightly floured hands (is that even a thing!?) you will form 4 different logs. You will bake the logs and then wait a little for them to cool down on a wire rack, then slice them diagonally with a serrated knife. Bake them again, this time face up on the same cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, turning them around halfway through the cooking time. You can keep your christmas biscotti in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Can I replace anything in this Christmas biscotti recipe?

Of course you can – starting with the flour! We have used white unbleached flour, but you can use wholemeal if you fancy. It’s definitely an option, but make sure you adjust the flour accordingly if needed be.

When it comes to the sugar and eggs, to be completely fair, these are the staples. You can change the spices for something a little simpler like cinnamon, but be warned they can change the flavour a bit too. The original version of biscotti does not include spices, but we always want to be extra so there goes that.

Nuts and fruits are a completely different story: maintain the weights, but may the world be your oyster! Almonds are part of the traditional recipe, but the rest is really up to you. All I would say is choose wisely! I want to try and make them with hazelnuts and chocolate chips or to make some cranberry pistachio biscotti, but that is talk for a different post.

We have made biscotti before, but under a different disguise: they are banana bread biscotti, dipped in melted chocolate. While they do not have any nuts in, I think walnuts would work wonderfully in here! And dipping in chocolate these Christmas biscotti does not sound half bad, to be honest. Maybe worth a shot? Some dipped in dark, some dipped in white…I am going to be baking these all over again soon!

Do you have more Christmas recipes to suggest?

We have plenty more Christmas recipes, some of our favourites are:

• this gingerbread pavlova is to die for;
• we also have a gingerbread syrup, perfect for coffees and cocktails alike;
• cranberry whipped feta dip, to entertain your guests since the appetizer;
• bourbon berry pie, because what is a Christmas lunch with no dessert;
• some of my favourite rosemary parmesan shortbread cookies;
• otherwise the perfect Christmas drink, the eggnog;
• a delicious main with this brie stuffed pork tenderloin recipe;
• these quick and easy christmas sausage rolls;
• a classic like pistachio panettone;
• the most delicious and easy brie galette;
• the most delicious vegan mushroom wellington to surprise your guests;
• a treat for your furry friends with these dog’s gingerbread cookies and some for humans too;
• and lastly, the latest hot toddy mocktail!

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Dried Orange Slices, £5.89 / Red & White Bakers Twine, £6.99 / Cinnamon Sticks, £8.59 / Tartan Napkins, £22.90 / Fairy Lights, £5.99 / Vin Santo, £18.99

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So here goes the Christmas biscotti recipe! Now, while I do not push for you to start day drinking, I do recommend trying to dip them in Vin Santo. Call it an experience, you know? Worst to the worst, you gain a bottle of dessert wine which is not too shabby! Too much? Maybe, but who am I to judge. This is most definitely a judge-free zone so please drink and be merry if you want, or don’t!

And we are also at the very end of this post for Christmas biscotti. As I keep on snacking on these, crunching one after the other without even realising, let me share what we did lately.

We have got two very fresh off the press gift guides, one on craft kits and one on stationery. In terms of recipes, we have the latest guest post from the lovely Kimberly on a wonderful Christmassy Southern Buttermilk Pie, but also this yummy Blood Orange Negroni. If baking is not your thing, these cookie truffles are just what the doctor ordered!

And, last but very much not least, we have a wonderful giveaway! We have teamed up with some of the top UK bloggers to bring you a huge prize worth up to £750 in prizes which are just going to make your Christmas! But you need to hurry – this giveaway it’s running up until the 15th of December! You will find the Rafflecopter at the very end of the post. And before I forget, good luck to you and whoever enters this!

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