Vegan biscotti with almonds and cranberries - this vegan version of biscotti is just as delicious as the original and so easy to make! They are wonderful with a cup of coffee and keep for ages so make great Christmas gifts!
Biscotti, also known as Cantuccini, are a crunchy, twice-baked Italian biscuit/cookie that are best eaten with a glass of sweet wine or a cup of coffee for dunking.
They are quite hard on their own, but dunking them softens them a bit, preventing you from breaking your teeth and creating a delicious flavour combination.
While they are good all year round I particularly like to bake them at Christmas. They keep for yonks so they make great gifts sealed up in an airtight jar; provided you can bring yourself to give any away that is!
Traditionally biscotti are made with three core ingredients - flour, eggs and sugar. I initially thought that they would be tricky to veganise seeing as they rely so heavily on the eggs which can be difficult to substitute.
Happily however, these eggless biscotti turned out just as good as the original and the eggs weren't as difficult to substitute as I originally thought. Soy milk replaces the moisture and protein, and melted refined coconut oil replaces the fat from the egg yolks.
I adapted this recipe, making the changes above to veganise them and tweaking the recipe to suit my tastes.
These vegan biscotti are crunchy, full of flavour and easy to make. I added almonds and dried cranberries to mine but you can vary the nuts and dried fruit as you prefer.
How To Make Vegan Biscotti:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.*
In a large bowl, whisk together caster sugar, soy milk, melted refined coconut oil, lemon or orange zest and vanilla extract until well combined.
In a separate bowl, sift together plain flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until it forms a rough dough then add almonds and dried cranberries and mix until they are well distributed. Use your hands to bring it together into a ball.
Divide the dough into two even pieces and shape each one into a log about 5cm wide. Place them well spaced apart on a baking parchment lined baking sheet and use your hands to slightly flatten them and square off the edges for perfectly shaped biscotti.
Bake the logs for 30-35 minutes until they are firm and lightly browned.
Remove the logs from the oven and set them aside to cool for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1.
Once the logs have cooled, use a sharp serrated knife to cut them into diagonal slices about 1 to 1 ½ cm wide. Don't try slicing the logs before the 15 minutes cooling time is up otherwise they will be hard to slice and crumbly. (I like to eat the end bits for uh, taste testing purposes...)
Lay the slices cut side down on the baking sheet and return them to the oven for 8 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Once the biscotti are cool store them in an airtight container. They will keep for several months if stored correctly.
Top Tips:
As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
This recipe will work with any non-dairy milk (except probably coconut), but unsweetened soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content and therefore most closely mimics the egg.
You can swap the melted refined coconut oil for another type of mild flavoured oil if you prefer.
Make sure that the milk is room temperature, or even lukewarm, otherwise you risk the coconut oil re-solidifying.
Don't try slicing the logs before the 15 minutes cooling time is up otherwise they will be hard to slice and crumbly.
If you want softer biscuits you can reduce the second bake time a little; and if you want really super crunchy ones you can increase it a bit.
You can swap the almonds and cranberries for other nuts and dried fruits if you prefer.
The biscotti will keep for several months provided they are stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
Vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
Autumn leaf maple cookie wreath
Vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
*All images and content on Domestic Gothess are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe then please do so by using the share buttons provided. Do not screenshot or post the recipe or content in full.*
Vegan Biscotti With Almonds And Cranberries
Ingredients
- 180 g (¾ cup + 2 Tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) unsweetened soy milk (other non-dairy milks will work but soy really is best) room temperature
- 2 tablespoon melted refined coconut oil (or another neutral oil)
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon or orange (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 275 g (2 ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 75 g (2 ¾ oz) whole almonds (blanched or with skin)
- 65 g (2 ¼ oz) dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160℃ fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, soy milk, melted coconut oil, zest and vanilla extract until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until it forms a rough dough then add the almonds and cranberries and mix until they are well distributed. Use your hands to bring it together into a ball.
- Divide the dough into two even pieces and shape each one into a log about 5cm wide. Place them well spaced apart on the baking sheet and use your hands to slightly flatten them and square off the edges for perfectly shaped biscotti.
- Bake the logs for 30-35 minutes until they are firm and lightly browned.
- Remove the logs from the oven and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1.
- Once the logs have cooled, use a very sharp serrated knife to cut them into diagonal slices about 1 to 1 ½ cm wide. Don't put too much pressure on the knife, try and gently saw through.
- Lay the slices cut side down on the baking sheet and return them to the oven for 8 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Once cool store in an airtight container.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- This recipe will work with any non-dairy milk (except probably coconut), but unsweetened soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content and therefore most closely mimics the egg.
- You can swap the melted refined coconut oil for another type of mild flavoured oil if you prefer.
- Make sure that the milk is room temperature, or even lukewarm, otherwise you risk the coconut oil re-solidifying.
- Don't try slicing the logs before the 15 minutes cooling time is up otherwise they will be hard to slice and crumbly.
- Biscotti are tricky to slice neatly, vegan or otherwise, and you will get some crumbles no matter what you do. You need to make sure that you use an incredibly sharp serrated knife, preferably with a narrow blade, and don’t put too much pressure on the biscotti – try and gently ‘saw’ through the crust. If you are struggling to slice them you can try spraying the crust with a bit of water and leaving it for a minute before slicing them, this should help to soften the crust a little so it is easier to cut through.
- If you want softer biscuits you can reduce the second bake time a little; and if you want really super crunchy ones you can increase it a bit.
- You can swap the almonds and cranberries for other nuts and dried fruits if you prefer.
- For extra almond flavour you can add ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
- The biscotti will keep for several months provided they are stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Samantha
Thank you so much the biscotti are amazing! I would love to make a chocolate, cherry and pecan version I just wanted to find out if I could just add cocoa powder or if I ought to substitute some of the flour? Thanks again, I'm really grateful to have found your blog!
hannahhossack
Hi Samantha, a chocolate, cherry and pecan version sounds delicious! I would swap 50g of the flour for cocoa powder. If the dough seems a bit too sticky then you can add in a little bit of extra flour.
Samantha
Thank you so much, the chocolate biscotti came out perfectly and tastes divine!
Stefanie
Love the flavour! I've made these twice now and might try one with dark chocolate and dried cherries. Just one thing - they tend to come out on the dense and hard side for my elderly parents. (I don't mind dunking them for longer on my tea, personally). How can I get the dough to rise a bit more so it's more airy and crunchy? I don't think it rises more than about 10% currently. My baking powder is new and fresh..
Hannah
Hi Stefanie, you could try adding an extra 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.
Sally Hossack
Thank you Hannah I’m going to make these next for the café xx
Chocoviv
These look good and delicious...
LouAnn
I cannot have any oil or vegan butter (once again, lots of oils). Could I sub almond butter or applesauce for the coconut oil???♀️
hannahhossack
Hi LouAnn, I think that almond butter would work but I wouldn't use applesauce.
Wilma
I tried your recipe and then I tried the original recipe with the egg and this is far better. I made a batch for my daughter and they polished it off in one go. Its my go to recipe now if I want something for coffee when I have friends around
DEBORRAH PALMER
Made thus biscotti and it is delicious
PrincessD
I’ve made these twice now and both times the dough turned out extremely sticky and I had to add more flour into it and then after baking I noticed tiny pockets of flour inside :((
Is this normal and should I attempt to add extra flour in the beginning in order to avoid the pockets?
hannahhossack
Hi, I've never had that happen before, may I ask if you are using the cup measurements? If you are then that is likely to be the issue. Cups are far too an inaccurate measuring system for baking, especially when it comes to measuring out flour. If you are using a scale rather than cups then the issue may be that the brand of flour you are using has a lower absorbancy rate than the brand I use. In this case I would try reducing the amount of milk - mix half with the sugar and oil then just add more milk as needed to form a dough.
PrincessD
No I use weighing scale for baking when given the measurements. It is far more accurate you are correct. I’ll try that next time thanks!
Sarah
I left the logs to cool for 15 minutes and they were still really crumbly and difficult to slice so overall they worked but looked messy without a clean 'slice'. Should I have let them cool completely before slicing instead of just 15 minutes? I had the exact oven temperature and timings, but they were quite hard to slice into, so it sort of cracked instead of giving in to the knife and then the inside was still chewy.
hannahhossack
Hi Sarah, biscotti are tricky to slice neatly and you will get some crumbles no matter what you do. You need to make sure that you use an incredibly sharp serrated knife, preferably with a narrow blade, and don't put too much pressure on the biscotti - try and gently 'saw' through the crust. I don't think that waiting until they are cool will help. What may help however is spraying the crust with a bit of water and leaving it for a minute before slicing them, this should help to soften the crust a little so it is easier to cut through. You could also use roughly chopped rather than whole almonds so there aren't as many big pieces to cut through. I found that it took me a few batches and a bit of practice before I got the slicing technique down! Hope that helps!
Chloe
These look wonderful! I was just wondering how necessary it is to use caster sugar? Would it be okay if I just use regular white sugar, or splenda?
hannahhossack
Hi Chloe, regular granulated sugar will be fine but I wouldn't use splenda, I don't know how that would affect the texture.
Nicole
I made this word for word and used my kitchen scale. I felt like a scientist! These were so soooo delicious and made my day and my family’s. Thank you so much for this recipe. You brought joy to me in a weird world. Take care.
Cassandra
This was my first attempt at biscotti and it was a success ! I added the orange zest and dipped them in dark chocolate. I didn’t have too much trouble slicing them after letting them cool about 30 minutes. I did find the log was stuck to the silpat while still warm, but released with no problem when cool.
Nora
Hey 🙂 This recipe was so yummy, even without the nuts and fruit. Thank you for posting this. I did however have an issue with my logs rising, they didn’t really change in size. Should I put more baking powder?
hannahhossack
Hi Nora, I'm glad you enjoyed them! Hmm, that's odd, I've never had an issue with them not rising before, are you sure your baking powder is in date? You could try adding an extra 1/2 tsp.
Sylfrid
Very good recipe! I used dried blueberries and it was delicious! Thanks!
Anne Marie
I made a lot of traditional biscotti recipes to give as gifts for the holidays. This is the only vegan one I made for my boss. I could not tell the difference between these and the others I made with the same additions (cranberries and almonds.) Even the non-vegan recipients couldn't tell either! Great job!
Belle Reve
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! You give me joy!!
Love love love this recipe, the whole batch didn't last more than 1hour after I took it out of the oven, my family was in awe. I subbed dried apricots because I didn't have cranberries. I went to buy cranberries specifically to bake a new batch today 🙂
Happy baking!
Merrisa
Do you think I could sub the caster sugar for sukrin? It’s a sweetner that is 1:1 swap for sugar in baking. I’ve used it in cakes in place of sugar and it’s worked fine but biscotti has a particular texture, I thought I’d ask what you thought?
Hannah
Hi Merrisa, that's not something I've ever tried baking with so I've got no idea I'm afraid!
Stephanie
These are delicious! I’m snacking on the bits while the batch is in the oven on its third bake. I accidentally cut them too thick (1 inch instead of 1-1.5 cm) but still have a yield of 14. I’m sure they will be a hit at Thanksgiving tomorrow. The flavors are lovely. I used granulated sugar and cut the almonds in half. This recipe is a keeper!
LN
Great recipe, I made them previously as gifts and they were a real hit! But I was wondering if you know the shelf life, do you have an idea of how long they will be good for?
Thanks for the recipe and your help
Hannah
So glad you enjoyed them! They tend to get eaten pretty quickly in my house but I reckon they would be good for about a month.
LN
Thank you for getting back to me, I will make them as a gift so wanted to check they'd be good for a couple of weeks
Ezra
I just made these, and I’m so pleased I just had to leave a comment.
I’ve been intimidated by biscotti/cantucci because I always assumed it was one of those things that could only be bought. Not the case! The recipe was so much simpler than I expected, and turned out excellent.
I used melted Stork instead of coconut oil, omitted the cranberries, and used a combination of toasted and raw almonds, gently crushing some of them. I had to do the second bake for about 5 more minutes as they were still slightly moist in the centre.
I will definitely use this recipe again. My mind is reeling from all the flavour combinations ideas - I’m thinking white chocolate snd cardamom would be particularly delicious.
Elizabeth
I followed the directions, measuring the ingredients by weight, and after mixing I would up with something closer to cornmeal than a rough dough. 80ml soy milk, 2 tbsp oil, and 1 tsp vanilla extract was nowhere near enough to bind over 450g of dry. Is something not displaying in the ingredients list?
Hannah
Hi Elizabeth, sorry to hear you had issues. Loads of people have made and loved these biscotti so I don't think it is an issue with the recipe. It may simply be that your flour is more absorbant. If you make them again you can always add a drop more milk as needed.