Chocolate Cherry Biscotti is a real crowd-pleaser and will be perfect to tuck into stockings, share at cookie swaps, or plate at your holiday party.
I love holiday cookies and remember the days growing up where we baked batch after batch of cookies for weeks to arrange in tins and share with family and friends. We even had mail carriers and trash service guys who looked forward to that Christmas tin of cookies. These Snickerdoodle cookies were ALWAYS in the tins.
Those were the days of living in the country where almost everyone knew everyone and you could do that. Now I can’t imagine either of those people wanting a tin of cookies from me. I’d think they were crazy if they trusted me – a complete stranger.
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But now I value holiday cookie swaps even more. It’s so fun to have a variety of everyone’s favorite cookies without having to bake so.many.cookies. It’s also fun to have an excuse to get together for an evening of girl time to swap those cookies and my newest favorite cookies to swap are these Chocolate Cherry Biscotti with White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti a close runner-up.
You have to be careful not to add too many cherries or the dough won’t hold together well enough, but add enough to get those tart bites of cherry throughout each piece. Topping each biscotti off with bittersweet or semisweet chocolate adds just the right finish.
If you’d love to take part in a cookie (or any type of food) swap and want some ideas, you neeeeed to check out my friend Emily Paster’s book called Food Swap. Not only does she share her best food swap-worthy recipes but she also is an expert in food swapping and shares her tips and how-to for running a food swap everyone will rave about.
PrintChocolate Cherry Biscotti
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 37 minutes
- Total Time: 52 minutes
- Yield: 18-24 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (unbleached or all-purpose)
- 1/4 cup 100% natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup oil*
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dried cherries (chopped small)
- 1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a small bowl.
- In mixer, beat oil and eggs. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add flour and mix until well combined.
- Fold in cherries.
- Put parchment paper or an oven safe silicone mat on a large cookie sheet.
- Form biscotti dough into a long cylinder shape almost as long as the baking sheet then pat down to 1/2 inch thick, maintaining even width from end to end.
- Bake 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool approximately 5 minutes. You want to let it cool long enough to handle but not long enough to start hardening or it will fall apart when you cut it.
- Cut cookie crosswise in approximately 1/2 inch thick fingers.
- Place back on baking sheet cut side up. Bake 6-10 minutes then turn and bake on other side 6-10 minutes. The color makes it hard to judge by brownness of the cookie but you want to it to look baked through.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Melt chocolate and brush over top of each cookie.
Notes
- I’ve used olive oil and avocado oil with no issues. Vegetable oil would also work.
- When cutting the biscotti use a sharp straight knife and don’t cut straight down. Instead, hold your knife at a 45 degree angle and cut through the cookie at that angle.
For more great cookie swap ideas check out my Cookie Recipe Board on Pinterest.
Here are the products I use to make biscotti:
- Cookie Sheet – this is my favorite set. I use the largest size for biscotti
- Silicone Baking Mat – the one I used isn’t available but I love Silpat. Whatever brand you use make sure it is oven-safe.
- Chef’s Knife – I have the 12-piece version of this set and use the 8-inch chef’s knife
- Mini Silicone Spatula – not just for kids! I use my mini silicone spatula and scraper all the time
- KitchenAid Mixer – I still love this mixer so much. It is ALWAYS on my counter top.
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