Lemon Biscotti
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These lemon biscotti are crunchy, sweet, zesty and incredible moreish. Whether you are serving them with a hot mug of tea, gifting them to a loved one, or just baking them because you fancy, they will quickly become a favourite.
The combination of fresh lemon, crunchy nuts and white chocolate chunks creates a wonderful balance that is easy to make and delicious to eat. With a twice baked biscuit crunch, they are wonderful.
Notes from The Patisserie
If you are looking for the perfect crunchy bake, then these will be your best friend. They are crisp, bursting with citrus, and much easier to make than you think. Having made my pistachio and hazelnut biscotti so many times at this point, I thought it was time to publish another one of my favourites.
Baking with lemon is one of my favourite flavours to play with, and adding this into the Italian classic is a wonderful combination. I personally love making these as they last for quite a while compared to other bakes, and they always look quite fancy in comparison to other biscuits.
As biscotti translates to “twice baked”, this shows why they are named what they are. The dough is quite easily mixed and pressed into its initial shape and baked for a longer period, then it’s portioned into smaller biscuits and baked at a lower temperature. This process helps create the shapes and then also that extra crunchy texture.
They are typically served alongside a coffee as they are perfect for dunking, and whilst they classically do use almonds, the addition of the lemon and white chocolate gives a delicious twist on a classic.
Ingredient notes and tips
You can find the full recipe in the recipe card below, but here is some useful information about the core ingredients for these delightful lemon biscotti
- Flour – It’s important to use plain flour as you do not want any added raising agents in the flour as you would get in self raising flour
- Sugar – I use white caster sugar as granulated sugar has too large a granule, but you could swap to golden caster sugar easily
- Raising agents – A tiny little touch of baking powder helps the texture, you do not want to substitute this for bicarbonate of soda
- Egg – I use two medium eggs, however, you may not need all of it or you may need a smidge more. As eggs vary in size it’s best to mix the eggs together, and slowly add to the dough – so theoretically it could also be two large eggs, with a little leftover as well.
- Chocolate – as with all of the flavour additions, there are options you can change and swap out. I used white chocolate callets as I bulk buy them, but you can use chocolate chips, a chopped up bar of chocolate, or leave it out entirely.
- Lemon – I would say it’s quite important to use the zest from fresh (unwaxed) lemons for a more authentic flavour, and to control the level of moisture. You can swap it to lemon extract (1-2 tsp), but you would need to add this with the egg and may then need slightly less egg.
- Nuts – I have tested this recipe with almonds and macadamia, and they are my two favourites. Chopped or flaked, they are great.
Flavour variations
As biscotti are so versatile, which is one of the main reasons I like making them, you can use this post as a base for other flavour inspiration if you so wish. Once you have mastered the simple method of making the base biscotti dough (the flour, sugar, raising agents and egg) you could then have fun. I would stick to the same rough quantities (or less) of mix-ins to make sure you still have a good texture.
- For a festive twist – you could use dried cranberries and orange zest
- For a chocolate lover – you could swap the white chocolate for triple chocolate, milk, dark or whatever – plus dunk them in chocolate when they’re finished baking
- The lemon zest can be replaced with any citrus zest you like
- The almonds/macadamia can also be replaced with any nuts you want.
FAQS
I would suggest not to skip this – this will finish baking the biscuits properly, and also gain the texture that you are after.
You need to leave the large part-baked biscuit dough to cool for ten minutes before cutting which means it’s easier to move. You can either carefully cut them on the baking tray, or carefully lift onto a cutting board – a serrated knife is best.
As they are warm, they may still be slightly soft, but then they will cool and firm up nicely. If they are still soft once cooled, you can return them to the oven before decorating for a few extra minutes to firm up.
No, definitely not! I love the icing drizzle, but you can leave this off completely, or swap to something else you prefer such as a dunking of white chocolate.
Lemon Biscotti Recipe
Ingredients
Lemon Biscotti
- 250 g plain flour plus extra for dusting
- 200 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 medium eggs beaten
- Zest of 2 lemons (finely grated)
- 100-150 g white chocolate chips
- 100g g chopped/flaked almonds or macadamia
Optional decoration
- 75 g icing sugar
- 2-3 tsp lemon juice
- lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan
- Line one large baking tray or two smaller baking trays with parchment paper and leave to the side
- Mix together the plain flour, caster sugar and baking powder in a large bowl until combined well
- Add in the lemon zest and mix through
- Gradually mix in the beaten eggs a bit at a time and mix fully before the next addition of eggs – your mixture shouldn't be sticky (however, if you find it is very very dry and not mixing well then add a touch more egg from a 3rd!) I used my hands to mix
- Add the chocolate and nuts and knead in
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times so its smooth
- Roll the dough out to form a thick but flat log (I recommend 5-6cm in width, 2cm in depth)
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes
- Once baked, remove from the oven, keep them on the trays, and keep the oven on but reduce it to 160ºc / 140ºc fan
- Leave the logs for 10-15 minutes until they have cooled slightly
- Cut the logs into the biscotti shapes, about 1.5-2cm in thickness and line them up again on the trays with the cut side up and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are dry through
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool
- Mix the icing sugar with lemon juice to a thick paste and drizzle over and sprinkle with lemon zest to decorate
Notes
- These last for about 2 weeks in an airtight container, but mine never last that long.
- These can freeze for 3+ months
Storage and freezing
These lemon biscotti last very well due to the nature of the biscuit being lower in moisture than most. They will last in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks
They are also perfect for making ahead as a homemade gift – they are great to be put into cellophane bags or food bags as gifts.
These lemon biscotti will last in the freeze for 3+ months.