Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (Easy Christmas Cookies for Gifting)
Cranberry pistachio biscotti are the Christmas cookies that look like they came from a bakery and taste even better with a hot drink in hand. Every slice is crisp and buttery, with tart red cranberries, green pistachios, and a soft hint of almond. They hold their crunch for weeks, so you can bake ahead, box some up as gifts, and still have a jar left for your own coffee.
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This easy cranberry pistachio biscotti recipe uses one bowl and pantry staples: a simple butter and egg dough with dried cranberries and whole pistachios folded in. The dough is shaped into one log, baked, sliced, and baked again at a lower heat, which is the twice-baked method behind every Italian biscotti recipe. One batch makes about 14 biscotti and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, most of it hands-off. Two things decide the result: the log needs a short cooling time before slicing, and the second bake has to stay gentle so the cut sides dry out without browning.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love These Christmas Biscotti
- Pin It for Later
- Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti Ingredients and Substitutes
- How to Make Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
- Notes from Making This Pistachio Biscotti Recipe
- Easy Variations for Holiday Biscotti
- What to Serve With Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
- Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti FAQs
- Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Why You'll Love These Christmas Biscotti
- Easy to make: The dough comes together in one bowl with a mixer or a wooden spoon, so this works as an easy biscotti recipe even for a first batch.
- Christmas colors without decorating: Red cranberries and green pistachios do all the work, so these cranberry pistachio cookies need no icing or sprinkles.
- Made for gifting: Pistachio and cranberry biscotti stack neatly in a jar or box and travel well, which puts them high on any list of Christmas gift baking ideas.
- Crisp without being rock hard: These Christmas biscotti cookies are crunchy all the way through, so they are good on their own and even better dunked.
- Kid friendly: The almond flavor is mild, and kids love dunking a slice in milk.
Pin It for Later
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti Ingredients and Substitutes
- Dried cranberries: Sweetened dried cranberries add chew and tart flavor without adding moisture. Fresh cranberry biscotti need a different dough, because fresh berries release juice and leave wet pockets around each berry.
- Pistachios: Use raw, unsalted, shelled pistachios and leave them whole. Raw pistachios stay bright green through both bakes, while roasted ones turn dull and salted ones make the cookies taste salty. For almond cranberry biscotti or cranberry walnut biscotti, swap in the same amount of whole almonds or walnut halves.
- Butter: The butter should be soft enough to press a finger into but not greasy or melted. Butter that is too warm makes the log spread flat in the oven.
- Almond extract: A small amount gives these Italian cookies their classic flavor. Vanilla extract works in its place for a rounder, milder taste.
- Flour: Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off. Packed flour makes a dry dough that cracks when you shape it.
How to Make Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
This easy biscotti recipe comes down to four stages. The full amounts and steps are in the recipe card.
- Mix: Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs and almond extract, then stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the cranberries and pistachios.
- Shape: Flour your hands and pat the sticky dough into a log about 12 inches long, 3 inches wide, and ¾ inch tall.
- First bake: Bake the log at 350°F for 25-28 minutes, until it is firm, light golden, and cracked across the top.
- Slice and bake again: Cool the log for 10-15 minutes, cut it into ¾-inch diagonal slices, and bake them at 325°F for 8-10 minutes per side.
The cooling time decides whether the slices hold together in any Italian biscotti recipe. A hot log crumbles under the knife, and a fully cold one cracks.
Notes from Making This Pistachio Biscotti Recipe
These are the things I pay attention to every time I make homemade cranberry pistachio biscotti.
- I shape the log on the baking sheet: The dough is too soft to move once it is shaped, so I form it right on the parchment.
- I keep the log even in height: A log that is level from end to end bakes through at the same rate and gives slices of the same size.
- I press loose pistachios back in: Nuts sitting on the surface fall off when the log is sliced, so I push them into the dough before baking.
- I pull the slices while they are still pale: The cut sides should stay creamy in color, because the cookies keep drying as they cool.
- I let them cool completely before packing: Warm biscotti sealed in a jar turn soft within a day.
Easy Variations for Holiday Biscotti
This holiday biscotti recipe takes well to small changes.
- White chocolate cranberry biscotti: Dip one end of each cooled cookie in melted white chocolate. The dipped cookies set on parchment in about 20 minutes.
- Cranberry orange pistachio biscotti: Rub fresh orange zest into the sugar before creaming it with the butter.
- Soft biscotti recipe: For a softer cookie, take 2 minutes off each side of the second bake.
- Snowy finish: A light dusting of powdered sugar just before serving looks like fresh snow on a cookie tray.
What to Serve With Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
These Italian Christmas biscotti are made for dunking, and they fill out a cookie tray or a gift box.
- Coffee: A strong cup is the classic pairing, and this guide to types of coffee covers everything from espresso to a flat white.
- Hot chocolate: A mug of mocha hot chocolate gives you coffee and chocolate in one cup for dunking.
- A drink for the kids: Drop one of these hot chocolate bombs into warm milk, and tuck a few into the same gift box.
- Cookie tray: These rose pistachio shortbread cookies use the same nut in a softer, buttery cookie, so the two look good side by side.
- Gift boxes: Add a bag of Christmas crack, a saltine toffee that brings a salty-sweet contrast to the box.
- Holiday dessert table: For another cranberry dessert to set out with them, browse these Christmas cranberry recipes.
Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti FAQs
Store the cooled homemade biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer bag for up to 3 months and thaw them on the counter for 30 minutes.
Bake them up to 1 week before you plan to give them, so they still have a full week of crunch left after they are opened. Line the jar or box with parchment and close it tightly.
Traditional Italian biscotti are made without butter or oil, which makes them very hard and meant for dunking. American biscotti add butter for a more tender crunch, and this pistachio biscotti recipe follows that style.
Biscotti turn out too hard when the slices are cut too thin or the second bake runs too long. Keep the slices at ¾ inch and take them out as soon as the cut sides feel dry.
Bake a batch of this cranberry pistachio biscotti recipe early in December, and you have Christmas cookies ready for every coffee, cookie tray, and last-minute gift.
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Equipment
- Parchment paper
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
- Serrated knife
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup pistachios raw unsalted shelled
- Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream ⅓ cup of softened butter and ½ cup of sugar in a large bowl for 2-3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in 2 eggs and ½ teaspoon of almond extract until combined.
- Add 1¾ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon of salt, and stir until a soft dough forms.
- Fold in ¾ cup of dried cranberries and ¾ cup of pistachios.
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and, with lightly floured hands, shape it into a log about 12 inches long, 3 inches wide, and ¾ inch tall.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes, until the log is firm to the touch and light golden with cracks across the top.
- Cool the log on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, and lower the oven to 325°F.
- Move the log to a cutting board and cut it on a sharp diagonal into ¾-inch slices with a serrated knife, using a gentle sawing motion.
- Arrange the slices cut side down on the baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Turn each slice over and bake for 8-10 minutes more, until the cut sides feel dry.
- Cool the biscotti completely on a wire rack before serving or packing, and dust with powdered sugar if you like.
Notes
- Pistachios: Raw, unsalted pistachios stay bright green. Roasted ones turn dull, and salted ones make the cookies salty.
- Butter: It should be soft but not greasy or melted, or the log spreads flat.
- Slicing: Slice after 10-15 minutes of cooling. A hot log crumbles and a cold log cracks.
- Doneness: The biscotti finish crisping as they cool, so take them out when the cut sides feel dry and still look pale.
- Storage: Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- White chocolate: Dip one end of each cooled cookie in 4 ounces of melted white chocolate and let it set on parchment.
- Orange: Rub the zest of 1 orange into the sugar before creaming.
- Softer biscotti: Bake the slices for 6-8 minutes per side.
- Nut swap: Use ¾ cup of whole almonds or walnut halves in place of the pistachios.