Sunday Dinner

Orange-Pistachio Biscotti

by:
May 11, 2015
4 Stars
Orange-Pistachio Biscotti
Photo by Bobbi Lin
Author Notes

The cookie so nice they baked it twice! I particularly love biscotti for its long shelf life: Undipped, biscotti will keep up to 2 1/2 weeks in an airtight container (dipped, up to 1 week). They're perfect for when you want to have something homemade on hand for unexpected visitors! —Erin Jeanne McDowell

Test Kitchen Notes

We love to serve this recipe with the Basil Hayden® Toast™—this tasty pairing's featured in our video series One Host, Two Ways, brought to you by our friends at Basil Hayden®. —The Editors

  • Prep time 35 minutes
  • Cook time 50 minutes
  • Makes about 30 cookies
Ingredients
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cups whole shelled pistachios
  • Melted dark chocolate, for dipping (optional)
In This Recipe
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until well combined. Add the orange zest and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
  3. In another medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt to combine. Add this mixture to the eggs, and mix with a rubber spatula until the dough is fully combined. Add the pistachios and mix just to combine. Be careful not to overmix.
  4. Wet your hands with a bit of water or spray them lightly with nonstick spray. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a log on the prepared baking sheets. The logs should be about 2 inches wide.
  5. Bake the logs until they're golden around the edges and they spring back lightly when touched on the surface, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the logs until they are easily handled, about 30 minutes.
  6. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the logs crosswise into even pieces about 1/2-inch thick. Place the sliced biscotti back onto the baking sheets, laying flat, and bake again until evenly browned, dry, and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes more. You may want to flip the biscotti over halfway through the second bake to ensure that they bake evenly.
  7. Cool the biscotti completely before dipping them in melted chocolate (if using). Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week (dipped) or up to 2 1/2 (undipped).
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Erin Jeanne McDowell
I always have three kinds of hot sauce in my purse. I have a soft spot for making people their favorite dessert, especially if it's wrapped in a pastry crust. My newest cookbook, The Book on Pie, came out on November 10th, 2020, and my pie merch collaboration with Food52 is out now too: https://food52.com/shop/merchants/manifest-food52/food52-x-erin-mcdowell

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9 Reviews

Diane
Diane November 22, 2021
Insufficient orange notes, esp when dipped in chocolate. Tried again, adding 1/2 t orange essence. Decided not to dip in chocolate to maintain orange/pistachio flavor.
 
Ssookhoo
Ssookhoo December 24, 2020
I followed the recipe exactly as written and did not end up with a dry mix at all. It was actually more on the wet side! Great recipe (written by the even greater Erin). I also used wider logs (more along the lines of 3 inches) and wet hands. I dipped in dark chocolate too.
 
Vfscotti
Vfscotti December 21, 2020
I followed the recipe as published. The batter seemed a bit dry at first but as it sat for a few minutes in the bowl it became quite moist and easily formed into logs. My logs were 2.5 to 3 inches wide though. I found wet hands worked better than using cooking spray to work with the dough. Results came out great.
 
Oktomat
Oktomat September 9, 2018
I followed the recipe and didn't come out with a too dry dough. It came out perfect, actually. What I did was add the flour 1/4 cup at a time and then kneaded the dough a bit after the last of the flour went in (gently, not like a bread dough). It started as a dry mix but after a minute or two the flour incorporated beautifully and became easy to mold into the logs. I picked this method up a la Julia Child's "Cooking with the Masters" series featuring Nick Malgieri.

https://www.pbs.org/video/baking-with-julia-italian-cookies/
 
Laura J.
Laura J. February 11, 2018
I used your sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, and salt quantities as a jumping off place to play with my own flavors (I went cranberry, orange zest, blanched almonds and loved the flavor). I made one batch that was slightly dense (but still tasty and perfectly dunkable). I then tried again with two small changes (which is inherently a bad experiment in account of two variables, but oh well)-- I reduced the flour by half a cup, and I added the cranberries and almonds to the flour mixture before adding it all at once to the egg because I was worried that adding them separately led to overmixing in my first try. This second batter was definitely wetter (unsurprisingly). I think both attempts were good, with the second yielding slightly richer and lighter biscotti. Just throwing all this out there so that those concerned about dry dough can try a slightly different approach.
 
Julie G.
Julie G. December 24, 2017
yup, mix was way too dry. The biscotti log did not spread during the first bake, despite adding some orange juice to the dough (only a tbsp or so), ended up with thick, squat logs...
 
Jack H.
Jack H. July 10, 2017
Yep very dry mix ,but I persevered and not to bad ,the wife was looking over my shoulder but was quite eating them LOL !!! 😂😂
 
Cindy
Cindy June 28, 2015
Hi you geniuses at Food 52,
I tried this recipe recently with the exact measurements and my dough turned out quite dry. I added an extra egg but that caused the dough to rise too much. Would you add liquid (i.e. milk) to it or just less flour? Thanks!
 
Donna S.
Donna S. June 28, 2015
Yes, please let me know as I am about to make them!