Ariella’s Walnut Biscotti Recipe (2024)

A few years ago, I lost my sweet tooth. Don’t ask me what happened or what I did;I just stopped craving sweets. Granted, I still have plenty of culinary vices left (did someone say cheese?), but sweets are no longer among them. I’ll still have the occasional slice of pie at holidays and such, but I no longer seek out the sugary stuff. However, I do still adore baking. The holidays are one of my favorite times of the year, partially because I can go all out of the baking and there will be plenty of people to partake. I’ve been making this Walnut Biscotti recipe since grade school, and it’s still one of my all-time favorites. Not only is it a crowd pleaser, but it’s also one of the few sweet treats I make that I enjoy eating myself. It’s sweet but not overpoweringly so, and it pairs wonderfully with a cup of hot tea or coffee in the morning.

I have no idea where this recipe originally came from, since all I have is a handwritten piece of paper that’s now so worn it’s actually soft. I’ve had numerous requests for this one over the years, so I thought that I should go ahead and put it here, since I know I won’t be able to hang on to that piece of paper forever. A concise, printable recipe is at the bottom of the post.

While this recipe is a bit more involved than, say, your average drop cookie recipe, it’s really not difficult at all. It also doesn’t require many ingredients that you likely don’t have in your pantry anyway. Generally, the only thing I have to go out to buy for this is walnuts. Here are the ingredients.

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup rolled oats, uncooked
• 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

First of all, mix all of the dry ingredients except for the walnuts. Next, you just stirin the wet ingredients. Finally, add the walnuts. You can get pre-chopped walnuts, but I prefer my walnuts to be a bit more finely chopped than those generally are. If you use pre-chopped walnuts as is, just keep in mind that you’ll have to be a bit more carefully when you slice the biscotti to prevent breaking and crumbling.

One you have everything mix up, you’ll need to divide the dough in half. Have a floured surface ready to roll on. I also recommend flouring your hands prior to handling the dough as it’s quite sticky. Take each half of the dough and roll it out into logs about 12″ long and 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter. It’s not an exact science by any means, but try to get them to about the same diameter so they cook evenly.This recipe can easily be doubled, however, I recommend dividing the dough into quarters and making 4 logs if you double it, so that you don’t have to adjust the baking time or temperature.

Put them onto your cookie sheets. I always use Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Foil on top just because nothing sticks to it and it makes clean-up a breeze(and no, this isn’t a paid advertisem*nt; I just love the stuff). However, if you use foil or darkcookiesheets, keep and eye on the bottoms to make sure they don’t get too brown. Bake in a 350° oven for about 25 minutes, checking occasionally (preferably via the oven windowninstead of opening the oven door) to make sure they’re cooking evenly and aren’t getting too brown on the bottom. If your oven cooks unevenly, like ours, I recommend turning the cookie sheets at the 15 minute mark to ensure more even cooking.

Once they’ve reach a light golden brown, take them out and cool them for about 10-15 minutes on wire racks (or dish racks that have been cleaned, dried, and turned upside down). Don’t turn off the oven yet! The loaves will be fairly soft at this point, so be careful transferring them to the rack. Don’t worry – they will get harder as they cool, plus they still have one more phase of baking to go through.

Once your loaves are cool, break out your cutting board and best serrated knife. If your “best serrated knife” is obnoxiously dull, you can try a very sharp non-serrated blade, but expect more crumbling. Cutting the biscotti is, in my opinion, by far the most difficult part of the process. Take your knife and cut the pieces diagonally across the loaf in about 1/2 inch slices. Between the walnuts and the oats, the recipe can get a bit crumbly at this phase. Unless you have a very steady hand and extremely sharp serrated knife, expect to lose a few pieces to breakage. Don’t despair, though! Biscotti crumbles are every bit as delicious as the whole pieces (plus you can always tell yourself those little calories don’t count).

Take your slices and crumbles and place them back on the cookie sheet with the cut side down. Put them back into the oven for 6-8 minutes per side. Once they start crisping up, you can take them out. Don’t expect them to have the crunchy biscotti texture at this point – they’ll get that once they cool. One of the best things about this recipe is that you can keep the biscotti for a few weeks and it just gets crispier, which, for biscotti, is a good thing. Now all you have to do is sit back, grab a nice cup of hot tea or coffee, and enjoy your delicious Walnut Biscotti. Oh, and try to keep everyone else from eating all of it.