Italian-Style Triple Chocolate Biscotti
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If you’re looking for the best chocolate biscotti recipe, you’re in good hands with this one. It has never failed me! These biscotti cookies have the perfect crunchy-crumbly texture with just the right amount of chew. Drizzle with melted dark chocolate for a triple hit of chocolate.
These are the biscotti I’ve been baking for years. They have a trifecta boost of chocolate, with cocoa powder and chocolate chunks in the batter, and melted chocolate drizzled over the baked cookies.
Chocolate biscotti is on my list of all-time favorite cookies because they have wonderful deep chocolate flavor, along with that sweet-spot cookie ratio of crunchy and crumbly. And with an extra flourish of melted chocolate as the finishing touch, I give them an “A+” for satisfying my frequent chocolate fixes.
Ingredient notes
- All-purpose flour: I keep unbleached all-purpose flour in my pantry, but bleached flour will work as well to make these biscotti.
- Chocolate: Look for dark chocolate baking chunks or a bar of chocolate with at least 70% cacao. Good-quality chocolate chips will work too.
- Cocoa powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder (either natural or Dutch process)
- Nuts: Sliced almonds, chopped walnuts or hazelnuts are optional add-ins and are delicious in biscotti! Add a half cup of your choice of nuts, and add to the batter with the chocolate chunks.
The perfect texture for biscotti
Traditional Italian biscotti (cantucci in Italy) with are meant to be hard and very crisp. They’re twice-baked and often made without butter or fat, which means there isn’t much in the way of moisture.
In Italy, biscotti are meant to be dunked in a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, so their dry texture is perfect for that. But for snacking out of hand when you’re craving a chocolate cookie? Not so much.
Like my lemon biscotti recipe, this biscotti dough is enriched with butter, so they turn out with just the right amount of crunch and tender chew.
Let’s make chocolate biscotti:
Biscotti are far less fussy to make than other kinds of cookies that require rolling and cutting. Getting the hang of the technique doesn’t require any special skills other than using your hands to form the stiff dough into logs.
1. Put the dry ingredients in a bowl. 2. Whisk until combined.
3. Beat the butter and sugar, then add eggs and vanilla. 4. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed until the dough forms a ball.
5. This chocolate dough isn’t too sticky to handle. The easiest way to form the dough into logs is to divide it into two long, slender shapes on the prepared baking sheet or on a large board. 6. Roll the the dough with your hands on a cutting board or counter, then pat and firmly push them into shapes about 12-inches long and 2-inches wide.
7. Transfer the logs to a parchment lined baking sheet (an offset spatula is perfect for this task to protect them from cracking). 8. Bake 30 minutes, until the logs feel firm.
9. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. Slice the logs with a confident downward motion using with a sharp chef’s knife. 
10. Arrange the slices standing up on the baking sheet (this technique allows the biscotti to dry on both sides, so you don’t have to flip them over). Return to the oven to bake a second time until they are dry to the touch, about 10 minutes.
Drizzle the cooled cookies with melted chocolate for a triple hit. An offset spatula, bench knife, cooling rack and chef’s knife are my favorite tools for making biscotti.
Italian-Style Triple Chocolate Biscotti Cookies
Ingredients
Yield: 32-36 biscotti
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour, (if you don't have a scale, measure by first fluffing the flour and spooning into a measuring cup. Then level with the blade of a butter knife)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (198 g) sugar
- 2 large or extra-large eggs * see note
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups dark chocolate baking chunks or chips
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Instructions
- Preheat to 350 degree and arrange baking racks to the middle of the oven. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
- Beat the butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and mix at high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl if needed, then beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
- Lower the mixer speed and add the flour mixture in two additions. Mix until the dough comes together in a ball with no flour streaks, about 1 minute. Use the stir setting on the mixer to add in ¾ cup of the chocolate chunks.
- Divide the dough in half. Shape each half on a board into a firm log about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide — dampen your hands if the dough feels sticky. Arrange the logs on the baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
- Bake 30-40 minutes, until the logs are firm to the touch and there are a few cracks on the surface. Cool on a rack 10 minutes. Don't overcool, or the cookies will crumble when you slice them.
- While the cookies are still warm, slice each log into ¾-inch wide slices using a sharp chef's knife, slicing confidently with downward strokes on a slight diagonal. Arrange them standing up on the baking sheet, leaving a little space in between each slice.
- Lower oven to 300 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, until the texture of the crumb seems dry.
- Transfer the biscotti to a rack to cool. Enjoy them as is, or make the chocolate glaze: Melt the remaining chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, or in 30-second increments on high in a microwave, stirring each time.
- Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooled biscotti. Let the chocolate set before serving.
Notes
- To drizzle the biscotti with the melted chocolate without making a mess, set them on a cooling rack over a piece of parchment paper, either on their sides or upright. Dip a small spoon or fork into the chocolate and drizzle away. Let the chocolate cool and set before packing in bags or containers.
- Optional nuts: Sliced almonds, chopped walnuts or hazelnuts are optional add-ins and are delicious in biscotti! Add a half cup of your choice of nuts, and add to the batter with the chocolate chunks.
- The beauty of these Italian-style cookies is that they keep better than other types of cookies without getting stale. Pack them in a cookie tin or other storage container (a zippered bag works too). Keep for about a week at room temperature, or freeze them up to one month.
- Note on eggs: The amount of eggs needed can vary depending on the size and how dry your flour is — I’ve found that even eggs marked “large” can sometimes be smaller than expected. If you find your dough looks a bit dry, lightly beat an additional egg and dribble it into your mixing bowl until the dough is soft and slightly sticky.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
This was my first time making biscotti. The dough was sticky, but the cookies came out great! Just the right amount of crunch. I did not have chocolate chunks, so I added walnuts. My teenagers loved them for snacks.