Cranberry Orange Gluten Free Biscotti – gently sweetened and lightly spiced oat flour biscotti dipped in melted white chocolate and topped with chopped cranberries
Recipe updated with new pictures and more detailed instructions November 30, 2018
Have I ever told you that I used to work at Starbucks? It was only for a hot minute – thank GOODNESS.
A few years back I picked up a second job working at Starbucks to save a little extra cash. For 5 months I got up almost everyday at 3:30AM to be ready for my shift. I’d work about 5-6 hours there before clocking out and heading to my actual full time job. I get tired just thinking about that time.
I learned a lot about people working there – some good, some bad, and some totally useless but mildly interesting. One thing I learned is that people go absolutely mental over their cranberry bliss bars – cranberry bliss bars and red holiday cups actually.
We had to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start selling them and they disappeared just about as quickly as we put them out.
With that in mind I really wanted to make a knock off version but then my cranberry bliss bars kept evolving until they became cranberry bliss biscotti. *swoon*
Let’s get to it!
How to Make: Gluten Free Biscotti
Biscotti means ‘twice baked’ and it’s exactly as it sounds here. The signature log shape and the double baking (which makes for an extra crispy cookie) makes it perfect for dipping into cups of coffee.
Despite needing to be baked twice for the classic cookie crunch that makes biscotti unique – it’s fairly easy to make once you break it down.
- Make the dough: mixing, chilling and forming the shape
- Bake: bake once, slice and the bake again
- Finish: cool and then dip into melted white chocolate & topping with cranberries
Additional Tips & Questions:
Can I make this egg free?
I’ve tried this recipe a couple of times using flax eggs to see how it would come out for my egg free friends. This recipe really works best with real eggs if you can use them, but you can sub with flax eggs if you need to. Just be aware that the dough won’t spread quite as much while baking and the top of the biscotti log will have a few cracks in them. I also found the slicing bit to be really difficult because the dough was more crumbly, but after the second bake it was exactly as it should be and no longer falling apart.
What about the oat flour?
I go into more detail in this post here but oat flour is often processed alongside gluten containing grains. If you need to make this gluten free for yourself or for your gluten free friends please make sure to use certified gluten free oat flour.
If you don’t have any oat flour on hand you can make it yourself by grinding up rolled/quick oats in a high powered blender.
Can I make this dairy free?
Yes! Just make sure to use dairy free white chocolate.
Enjoy!
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Cranberry Orange Gluten Free Biscotti
Cranberry Orange Gluten Free Biscotti - gently sweetened and lightly spiced oat flour biscotti dipped in melted white chocolate and topped with chopped cranberries | Gluten Free + Dairy Free
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup | 124 grams certified gluten free oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh orange zest, about 1 large orange
- 1/4 cup | 53 grams packed light brown sugar or sub with coconut sugar
- 3 tablespoons | 40 grams soft coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/3 cup white chocolate, melted
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, ginger and orange zest. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar and coconut oil. Scrape down the sides as need. Add the vanilla extract and egg until creamy and full combined.
- Add the egg mixture the oat flour mixture and mix together until combined and a dough forms. Once fully mixed cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes so that the dough becomes less sticky and easier to handle.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C while the dough is chilling.
- After refrigerating, roll the dough out on a lightly floured sheet of baking parchment and form a 12 inch by 3 inch log that's about 1/2 inch thick.
- Transfer the baking parchment with the dough log to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Remove the log from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet.
- Once cool enough to handle, use a serrated to slice the log into 1 inch slices. Lay the biscotti cut side up and return to the oven for another 12-14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. Dip one long side of the biscotti in white chocolate. Lay out on a large sheet of baking paper, chocolate side up. Sprinkle the chopped cranberries over the chocolate and let dry.
- Store in an airtight container and enjoy!
Notes
Egg Free Version: I've tried this a couple of times use a flax egg with varied results. There were more cracks in the top of the biscotti and it didn't spread quite as much. It also requires more patience when cutting the biscotti into slices as it was prone to breaking. After the second bake the cookie was no longer crumbly and tasted just as good.
Dairy Free Version: Use a dairy free white chocolate
Judy Vendramini says
Is there a reason why you did not incorporate any cranberries into the dough?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Judy! Originally I think I had named these ‘cranberry bliss’ biscotti because I was trying to make them like starbucks’ cranberry bliss bars which have the cranberries only on top. You can absolutely mix some dried cranberries into the dough though! I think fresh cranberries will also work, but you’ll want to chop them up into smaller pieces.
Ana says
I made these last night. The taste was yummy!! But NOT the texture. It wasn’t biscotti like they were crumbly and half of them broke. They were like short bread cookie like would love feedback to improve it next time only sub I made was melted butter instead of the oil
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Ana! Glad you enjoyed the taste still! I wonder if your use of butter gave these more of a soft, shortbread-like texture. I will say that the oat flour does make these pretty delicate – they’re especially prone to breaking before they’ve fully cooled off.
Dottie says
I can’t print this recipe? Help please!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Dottie! Try a link to this page: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/454/print You should be able to print that from your computer. Hope that helps!
Susan says
Can I sub the sugar with honey?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Susan! I haven’t tried this out myself so I can’t say for sure, but I do think that would work out somewhat. They biscotti might be softer with honey and will probably be much sweeter. Honey is usually about twice as sweet as regular sugar so you might want to reduce the amount you use by 1-2 tablespoons
Pellegrino says
These sound delicious! I like your take on cranberry bliss bars – I too worked at the aforementioned coffee conglomerate. Do you use white chocolate chips, or bars? I make cranberry bliss bars, and have learned that melting white chocolate so it can be drizzled is tough. I buy only the really nice organic white chocolate bars (that don’t have all the gunk added to them), and melt it double-boiler style. Do you have any tips for melting the white chocolate for these? It looks like you melted it in a glass baking dish, I’m guessing maybe in the microwave? I suppose if it gets a little clumpy, that’s not as big of a deal as with the bliss bars, because you’re dipping them in it, and it doesn’t need to be drizzled.
Sarah says
Thanks! I totally know what you mean about melting white chocolate! I’ve used both before but I find white chocolate bars to be easier to manage. I don’t really have any tips other than just babysitting it as it melts. I just pop it in the microwave and melt in 15 second increments and take it out to stir in between each increment. So long as I take it out to stir often enough I don’t usually end up with clumpy chocolate. Hope that helps!
Pellegrino says
Okay, great, thanks for your reply! I’ll stick with the white chocolate bars I usually use.
pat marino says
can i substitute coconut oil. if yes what else can i use.
Sarah says
I haven’t tried it with other oils yet but I do think any other type of neutral flavoured oil should do! Probably melted butter as well!
Kaelynne M says
I made this recipe last night and it turned out beautifully! I was really impressed by the great taste and the fact that it was not crumbly at all. I have a whole bag of cranberries that expire soon and I was looking for ways to use them up. This is definitely a recipe I will keep and make more of!
Sarah says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know what you thought!
Heidi says
I love making biscotti for christmas to give to my friends and family, this is a good one! I love that it uses coconut oil, but I subbed the cranberries and white chocolate for gf/df chocolate chips and a dark chocolate dip. It turned out great 🙂
Sarah says
So glad you liked it! Thanks Heidi!