Chocolate Chip & Walnut Biscotti

Chocolate Chip & Walnut Biscotti are crunchy “twice-baked” (actually thrice-baked) cookies, crammed with chocolate chips and walnuts and perfect for dipping into your afternoon coffee or milk.

While these Chocolate Chip & Walnut Biscotti are made for generous dipping, they are just crumbly and light enough to eat well on their own, too.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Biscotti on a cooling rack

For some helpful tips before you begin, click here.

Makes about 40 biscotti.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (125 g) walnuts (or pecans, hazelnuts or sliced almonds)
2 3/4 cups (330 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 g) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
1/2 cup (113 g or 1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup (200 g) sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
1 cup (170 g) mini-semisweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Toast the walnuts.

– Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) .
– Spread the nuts on a baking sheet.
– Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Be careful not to burn.
– Remove the nuts to a plate to cool.
– Then coarsely chop the nuts to measure 3/4 cup.

2. Combine the ingredients.

– In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
– In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
– Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
– Beat in the vanilla and water.
– Gradually add the flour mixture, beating at low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, just until evenly combined.
– Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts by hand with a wooden spoon.

3. Form the dough into logs and chill. (See TIPS)

– Divide the dough into fourths.
– Spread each fourth evenly down the center of a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper about 18 inches long.
– Roll the dough snugly in the plastic wrap or wax paper, like rolling sushi, into a 10-inch log. (If the dough is too soft and sticky to work with, refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling into logs.)
– Wrap the logs securely.
– Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until firm. (At this point, the dough may be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to a month.)

4. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Shape the biscotti into loaves. (See TIPS)

– Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
– Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

– Unwrap and place each log on the prepared cookie sheet about 3-inches apart.
– With lightly floured hands, shape each log into a long loaf about 2-inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

5. First bake:

– Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookie is just starting to brown very lightly.
– Remove from the oven.

6. Second bake: (See tips)

– Using 2 spatulas, carefully move one of the baked loaves onto a cutting board.
– Gently slice the loaf with a very sharp knife into 1-inch thick diagonal slices, about 10 cookies per loaf. (Do not exert pressure while slicing. Just use a very gentle sawing motion.)
– Place the slices back onto the cookie sheet, cut side up.
– Repeat with the remaining loaves.
– Bake for 7 minutes.
– Remove from the oven.

7. Third bake: (See tips)

– Flip the cookies over and bake for another 3 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown and dry.
– Remove the cookies to a cooling rack.

To store:
– Store completely cooled biscotti in an air-tight container at room temperature for a week or two.
– Or freeze for up to 3 months.

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About this recipe

Chocolate Chip & Walnut Biscotti are truly meant for dipping. These cookies are baked three times (even though“biscotti” actually means twice-baked) until they are dry and crunchy. They hold up well soaked in coffee or milk, but are just crumbly enough to be enjoyed as they are.

I have always loved the combination of chocolate and walnut. (So delicious with coffee.) But these biscotti are versatile. Substitute whatever you like – dried fruit for chocolate, pistachios for walnuts, almond extract instead of vanilla. You can even leave them plain. They’re wonderful.

Tips:

Here are 3 helpful tips:

Take your time with the shaping and baking for beautifully uniform and perfectly baked biscotti.

1) Dividing and wrapping the dough:

Divide the dough into fourths.
Spread each fourth evenly down the center of a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper about 18 inches long.

Roll the dough snugly in the plastic wrap or wax paper, like rolling sushi, into a 10-inch log. (If the dough is too soft and sticky to work with, refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling into logs.)
Wrap the logs securely.
Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until firm.

– At this point, the dough may be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to a month.

2) Shaping for the first bake:

Shape the chilled logs into loaves about 2-inches wide and 1/2-inch thick, The neater your dough is, the more evenly your biscotti will bake and neater your biscotti will look.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Biscotti - fisrt bake

Before and after the first bake.

– You may notice that I slant the ends of my loaf. That way, when I slice the biscotti, the end slices are uniform in thickness with the rest of the biscotti. But it’s not a requirement.

3) Slicing for the second bake.

Transfer your just-baked biscotti loaf carefully.

Transferring the baked cookie onto a cutting board — I have only one loaf here. I leave the rest in the freezer and bake on an “as need” basis.

– When transferring your just-baked cookie from the pan to the cutting board, place the cutting board as close to the pan as possible. (I know this seems obvious, but trust me. You don’t want to learn the hard way. Sigh.)

Slice gently.

– Use a gentle sawing motion to slice the biscotti. No need to use more pressure than gravity and the weight of the knife.
– Wipe the knife clean between slices for neater cuts.

Biscotti sliced — Each 10-inch log will make approximately 10 to 12 cookies each.

4) Don’t skip flipping the biscotti for the third bake.

After the first bake (15 minutes) and the large cookie has been sliced, the sliced biscotti will be baked (7 minutes), flipped and baked again (3 minutes) until evenly dry and golden.

– It may seem tempting sometimes to just skip flipping the biscotti for that last 3-minute bake, but taking that shortcut isn’t worth it. You risk burnt edges and uneven coloring.