Almond Apricot Biscotti
At the local coffee shop that my boyfriend frequents there’s a large case full of homemade biscotti near the cash register. Every time I’m in there with him my eyes are drawn to the big apricot flavored biscotti. I’m always so tempted, but I pass them up every time because I know I could make a whole batch at home for the price of just one or two of theirs. (I feel the same way about buying coffee at coffee shops, actually, which is why I referred to it as the coffee shop that he frequents. LOL) I finally got an opportunity to whip up a batch of Almond Apricot Biscotti a couple weeks ago and I was right. 28 delicious homemade biscotti for just over $3! So, probably around 1/10th of the price that I’d pay at the coffee shop. WIN
And the best part is, you can stash the baked biscotti in the freezer, where they won’t be as big of a temptation, and take just one or two out at a time to enjoy with your morning (or afternoon) coffee. You’ll always have fresh homemade almond apricot biscotti ready for dunking!
P.S. Check the bulk food bins to get good prices on dried apricots and sliced almonds and avoid buying more than you need.
Almond Apricot Biscotti
Almond Apricot Biscotti
Fresh homemade Almond Apricot Biscotti are pennies a piece and can be stored in the freezer, ready for dunking at any time.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour $0.21
- 1 tsp baking powder $0.04
- 1/4 tsp salt $0.02
- 1 cup sugar $0.32
- 4 Tbsp butter, room temperature $0.44
- 2 large eggs $0.54
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract $0.42
- 1 tsp almond extract $0.28
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg $0.02
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds $0.88
- 1/3 cup dried apricots (about 8 pieces) $0.40
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly mixed.
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In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, and nutmeg until the mixture is light and creamy in appearance.
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Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until a soft dough forms.
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Chop the apricots into small pieces. Add the chopped apricots and sliced almonds to the bowl with the dough, then stir until they are mixed in. Save a few pieces of almond to press into the top of the biscotti.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, then shape each into a flattened log, about 3 inches wide and 12 inches long. Place the logs a few inches apart on the baking sheet. Press a few pieces of almonds into the top of the dough for decoration. Bake the biscotti logs for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until the edges turn golden and the top has a few cracks.
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Remove the biscotti from the oven, but don't turn it off. Let the biscotti cool for about five minutes, then carefully transfer them to a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to cut the biscotti, on an angle, into 3/4-inch wide slices. Place the slices on back on the baking sheet, cut sides up.
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Bake the sliced biscotti for about five more minutes, then flip and bake for five minutes on the second side. Allow the biscotti to cool completely before serving or packing in an air-tight container.
Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir until they are well combined.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, 4 Tbsp room temperature butter, 2 large eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp almond extract, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg.
Beat the wet ingredient together until they are light and creamy in appearance (pictured above). Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until a soft dough forms (it will look a bit like sugar cookie dough).
Chop 1/3 cup (or about 8 pieces) of dried apricots into small pieces.
Add the chopped apricots and 1/3 cup sliced almonds to the dough and stir to combine. Save a few pieces of almond to press into the top of the biscotti.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into two pieces, then shape each piece into a flattened log, about 2-3 inches wide and 12 inches long. Press a few pieces of almonds into the top for decoration.
Bake the biscotti for 35 minutes, or just until they begin to get a slight golden color and the tops begin to crack. Remove the biscotti from the oven (but don’t turn it off) and let them cool for about five minutes. This helps them solidify a little and makes them easier to slice.
Transfer the biscotti logs to a cutting board, and slice them on a diagonal into 3/4-inch wide slices.
Place the slices back on the baking sheet, cut sides up, and bake for another 5 minutes. Flip the biscotti so that the other cut side is facing up, and bake for an additional five minutes.
And that’s it! Just let the Almond Apricot Biscotti cool completely before you pack them up for storage. Whether freezing or keeping at room temperature, make sure they are in an air-tight container.
Frozen biscotti thaw in a matter of minutes at room temperature.
And then they’re ready to be dunked into your best cup of coffee! ❤️
This was my first attempt at biscotti and they turned out great. I enjoyed one this morning with my coffee. I’m not much of a baker so that’s saying a lot! My husband asked that I make chocolate next so this is a great basic recipe for trying all sorts of combinations. I’ll be making your naan later today, also my first attempt! You have an excellent site. Thanks for all your hard work!
I’m currently making them and somehow I ended up with drop cookie dough consistency instead of roll out cookie dough. I did sub for whole wheat flour because I didn’t have any regular and needed these asap! I leftthe butter to get to room temp for 30 min so I’m not sure what happened. The longs aren’t cute but I stole some dough and I know they will be yummy either way! Just wishing mine had come out as cute
Any time you substitute whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose you’ll get a fairly drastic change in texture (and flavor), not only because the flour is textured, but it absorbs more moisture than all-purpose.
Very happy with the result! I would definitely make this again.
Beth,
3 quick questions –
1) any suggestions on cutting the sweetness in these? I am not a sugar in the morning girl and drink my coffee black, but I don’t want to mess up the texture by just dropping the sugar.
2) do you know if egg replacer would work well in these? My SIL would love these, but she’s allergic to egg.
3) Are the fillings pretty exchangeable? Because I see orange zest and cranberry in my imminent future! Or lemon and vanilla.
Thanks for your input, and I always enjoy your blog. I’m making the raspberry wings tonight!
I’ll answer the easy one first ;) Yes, the add-ins are pretty interchangeable. Orange cranberry would be AWESOME. As for the sugar and egg replacer, it’s hard to tell without experimenting with it some. Baking can be very technical, so changing the sugar may have an effect on the texture. I’ve never really baked with egg replacers, but I can almost guarantee that will change the texture.
Made a batch of these a few days ago and they’re already almost gone. I had dried cranberries on hand already, so I crushed some walnuts with them and it made for a delicious combination.
One question for you, Beth: my dough ended up with a slightly more crumb-like texture that yours (going off the pictures), so while the interior texture of the finished biscotti was still great, the dough logs were not nearly as smooth and uniform as yours, and the tops ended up being a lot more uneven and prone to breaking apart during slicing. Any suggestions for getting that picture-perfect outer crust?
Hmm, so are you saying that the uncooked dough was crumbly rather than staying together in a nice dough? It should have a similar texture to a sugar cookie dough. It sounds like maybe it wasn’t moist enough? I’d try using slightly less flour or maybe an extra tablespoon of butter.
I had the exact same problem, but I think I over softened my butter – I was trying to get “room temp” faster and got “seriously soft almost melted” instead. I thought about sticking the dough back in the fridge for a bit, but I was lazy and time crunched so made it crumbly instead ;)