Growing up I thought biscotti were some sort of fancy toast for drinking coffee. I didn’t learn until much later they are actually a cookie, even though they don’t really look like a traditional cookie. However, in Italian biscotti actually means cookies. If you break the word down further, it comes from the Latin word biscotus which means twice baked which biscotti also are. These lemon & white chocolate biscotti are American style which are still crunchy, but slightly softer than Italian style. Great for a breakfast treat with coffee or tea, or a sweet and fruity dessert.
If you haven’t made biscotti, we make the dough but instead of shaping or scooping it into individual portions like a standard cookie, we bake it into a loaf shape then slice it and bake it again. In some ways, they are a little easier because you bake all the cookies in one batch vs many small batches.
If you aren’t a white chocolate fan you could definitely leave it off but I think it compliments the lemon really well and adds a little more sweetness. However, I did try these and like them without it. The lemon flavor is both strong and subtle.
Lemon & White Chocolate Biscotti Key Ingredients
- Lemon Zest – Zest contains a lot of the natural oil that has the flavor of the lemon without the tartness and acidity that’s in the juice. In addition, rubbing the zest into the sugar will act as an abrasive and release more of the oil into the recipe really amping up the lemon flavor.
- Lemon Emulsion – Lemon emulsion is like lemon extract. Extracts suspend the flavor in alcohol, and often the flavor can “bake out” during baking. Emulsions use a emulsifier that helps the flavor withstand higher temperatures and lend to a more intense flavor in your baked good. If you don’t want to buy Lemon emulsion, you can definitely use extract however, I use THIS emulsion and it’s a 1-1 substitute for extract.
- White Chocolate – Once the lemon white chocolate biscotti are cooked, the white chocolate is drizzled on or you can dunk them in it. This will add a little more sweetness and the lemon pairs super nicely with it.
If you’re looking for other ways to use some lemon in your baking, I might suggest:
Ingredients
- 135 g Granulated sugar ⅔ cup
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 4 tbsp Unsalted butter softened
- 2 large Eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp Lemon emulsion
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- 240 g AP Flour 2 cups
- ½ tsp Sea salt
- 2 tsp Baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a medium-large bowl, add sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar in between your fingers for a few minutes. The sugar will begin to become yellow and fragrant.
- Add softened butter and using a hand mixer mix together until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing each egg in well.
- Add in vanilla and lemon emulsion and combine.
- Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Dough will be sticky.
- Transfer your dough to the sheet pan and shape the dough into a flattened log shape that is about 12-13" long, 3-4" wide and about ¾" tall.
- Place your baking sheet on the center rack of your oven and bake for about 30 minutes. The sides of your biscotti should be turning lightly golden and the top may be starting to show cracks.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.
- Using a serrated bread knife, cut your biscotti at an angle, each piece about 1" wide.
- Lay all the biscotti cut side down on the pan and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Halfway through baking, remove and flip all the biscotti over.
- Remove biscotti from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- In either a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave, melt your white chocolate. The stovetop is a much better way as white chocolate is known to seize easily and the heat is more gentle and controllable in a double boiler.
- After biscotti have cooled for about 20 minutes, drizzle or dunk biscotti in white chocolate. Allow white chocolate to cool and harden. Enjoy!
