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Is your cup of tea or coffee feeling lonely lately? Here’s a recipe for you! This versatile homemade biscotti recipe can be made with whatever fruit and nuts you have on hand–you can even make it gluten free and/or dairy free!

I learned to make biscotti from my sister-in-law Abigail. As a homeschooled teenager, she and a friend started a catering business, providing tea and goodies for tea parties and other ladies’ events–and biscotti was a standard offering. She later passed this beloved recipe on to me, and it has become a family favorite, especially around the holidays.

Here’s what you’ll need.

EQUIPMENT:

• Mixing bowls (this set has served me well for years)
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Sheet pan (I used this one by USA Pan)
• Good spoon (check out these cute spoons by my SIL Lydia!)
• Good, serrated knife for slicing (I used one of my hand-me-down steak knives–good knives are made to last! And mine are going on 30 years!)

INGREDIENTS:

• Butter and flour for greasing and dusting your pan (use coconut oil or butter substitute for dairy free; use gluten free flour for gluten free)
• 2 1/4 cup flour (can be all purpose, whole wheat, or GF: I used Premium Gold Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• (1/4 cup milk or water, if needed to form dough–use water or dairy free milk for dairy free option)
• 1 1/4 cup nuts, chopped
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (like raisins, cranberries, currants, etc)

PREP:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease and flour a large baking sheet. Parchment paper is not recommended for this recipe.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients.
4. Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients, stirring with a spoon (or hands) to combine. Dough will be thick and firm. If too dry to come together, add 1/4 cup milk (or water for dairy free option).
5. Add nuts and fruit. Stir or knead into dough until thoroughly mixed.
6. Divide dough in half and spread each half onto prepared baking sheet, forming two flat loaves 13″ long by 2 1/2″ wide, 3-4″ apart.
7. Wet fingers and press and smooth the tops and sides.

FIRST BAKING:

8. Bake for 40 minutes at 300 degrees or until firm. Cool 5 minutes.
9. Turn oven down to 275 degrees.
10. Slice loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Stand 1/2 inch apart on baking sheet.

SECOND BAKING:

11. Bake sliced loaves at 275 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
12. Check for doneness by pressing slightly on the top of a large slice–the slice should be firm/dry enough not to give under light pressure. Let cool and enjoy!

The picture above is from a batch of Double Chocolate Chip Biscotti (recipe coming soon!). It’s a great variation on this recipe, especially for gifting at Christmas!

Feel free to get creative with different fruit and nut combinations in this recipe! But if you want to try some of my family’s favorites, check out Double Chocolate Chip Biscotti and Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Biscotti (both coming soon!)! Both recipes have gluten free and dairy free options!

Did you try to make this biscotti recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out!