These vegan biscotti are crispy, delicious, and perfect for dunking! They're also easier to make than you'd think, with just a handful of simple ingredients.
Back in the early days of this website I tried to veganize my grandfather's biscotti recipe, and failed miserably. The cookies fell apart when I tried to slice them and my husband and I had to eat all the broken biscotti bits.
Okay, maybe "failed miserably" is wrong. Eating even broken biscotti bits is a pretty happy event.
It took me years to try my hand again at veganizing my old favorite Italian cookies. I'd been thinking there must be some magical secret to creating vegan biscotti that would hold up to slicing. I finally gave it another go and discovered a few tricks.
Slicing these biscotti is the trickiest part of the recipe, since we're not using eggs as a binder like with traditional biscotti. But with my tips below I'm sure you can make it happen. And your biscotti will be absolutely delicious!
These vegan biscotti are perfect for holiday gifting and amazing with a cup of coffee.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find the basic ingredients for making chocolate dipped vegan biscotti with pecans, as I've shown in the photos. You'll also find some info on substitutions, so you can make the recipe your own!
- Flour. We're using all-purpose flour (also known as wheat flour or white flour). I haven't tested the recipe with any other types of flour, so I can't say if they'll work. I'd caution against using gluten-free flours, which might not have enough binding ability for this particular recipe.
- Baking powder.
- Cinnamon. This is totally optional, but I love the flavor it adds a great flavor that compliments the pecans and cinnamon really nicely!
- Salt.
- Vegan butter. Look for brands like Earth Balance and Miyoko's in the refrigerator of your supermarket, near where regular butter is sold.
- Sugar. Use organic sugar, which is processed without animal products, so it keeps the recipe vegan.
- Non-dairy milk. Just about any variety of milk that's unflavored and unsweetened can be used, with the only real exception being canned coconut milk. Almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk and oat milk all work! Need more guidance? Check out my guide to dairy-free milks.
- Vanilla extract. You can replace this with almond extract, which works particularly well if you also use almonds in place of pecans (see below), or even anise extract for traditional Italian anise biscotti.
- Pecans. I chose pecans not only because they're delicious, but also because they make our vegan biscotti easy to slice. They're soft, as far as nuts go. Walnuts (also pretty soft) would be a great replacement. You could also use dried fruit, like cranberries, or a mix of nuts and dried fruit. Harder nuts like almonds can be used, but will make the already challenging process of slicing your biscotti a bit trickier. You can also skip the stir-ins altogether if you'd like!
- Vegan chocolate chips. Just use these if you'd like to make chocolate dipped biscotti. I used Enjoy Life brand for the dark chocolate dipped biscotti and King David brand for the white chocolate. Both are vegan!
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Start by whisking your dry ingredients together in a large bowl: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In another large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer, your call!) to cream the butter and sugar together.
- Beat in the non-dairy milk and vanilla into the mixture.
Tip: Make sure your butter and non-dairy milk are at room temperature before you begin. Always to this with baking projects unless otherwise specified!
- Begin beating the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, adding just a bit at a time and using your electric mixer on low speed.
Tip: The dough may appear a bit crumbly at this point. Test it by pressing some in your hands to make sure it holds together. If it crumbles, add a splash of non-dairy milk.
- Stir in chopped pecans by hand.
- Place your dough into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and shape it into a log.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake your biscotti log until it turns golden brown on the outside.
- Take the baking sheet out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Once the log has cooled down a bit you can carefully remove it from the baking sheet and place it directly on the cooling rack. This will speed up the cooling process!
- Slice your log once it has cooled completely. We're cutting it into 1 inch slices on a 45 degree angle. Remember, this is the tricky part.
- Use a sharp non-serrated knife. I find the best method is to carefully press the point of the knife into the top of the log where you want to make a cut, making a small puncture. Repeat that process along the length of your desired cut until you've formed a very shallow cut that goes all the way across the log. Use this as a guide before sliding the knife in and carefully cutting further. Take it slow and be patient!
Note: Most biscotti recipes recommend using a serrated knife, but that did not work for me. (Maybe it works better for non-vegan biscotti.) Use a non-serrated knife.
- Arrange your vegan biscotti slices on a baking sheet and pop them back into the oven. Toast them for about 10 minutes on each side.
Fun fact: Biscotti are baked twice, and the name "biscotti" literally means twice baked.
- Place your baking sheets on a cooling rack and let your biscotti cool. Optionally, dip them in melted vegan chocolate. You can even roll the dipped portions in chopped nuts for extra deliciousness.
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan biscotti will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least two weeks or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Biscotti
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan butter (at room temperature)
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (at room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Note 1)
- 1 cup chopped pecans (Notes 2 and 3)
- 1 ½ cups vegan chocolate chips (optional, for chocolate dipped biscotti)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer at high speed. Beat the ingredients for about 1 minute, until creamy.
- Beat in the milk and vanilla, just until incorporated.
- Begin beating the flour mixture into the butter mixture, adding about a third at a time and beating it in at low speed until fully incorporated. (Note 4).
- Stir in the pecans by hand, using a large spoon.
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and shape it into a log that's about 12 inches long by 3 inches wide.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake the log until it becomes golden brown on the outside, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. You will need the oven again, so either leave it on or remember to preheat it again a few minutes before baking the biscotti for the second time.
- Allow the biscotti to cool completely. (Note 5)
- Once cool, place the log on a cutting board and carefully cut it on a 45 degree angle into 1 inch pieces. (Note 6)
- Place the slices on a baking sheet and bake the cookies a second time for about 10 minutes on each side, until golden brown, being super careful when turning them.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely.
- If dipping the cookies, melt the chocolate chips by placing them in a microwave safe bowl and heating them in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until fully melted.
- Dip a half to a third of each biscotti in the chocolate (you can also drizzle them if preferred). Place the cookies on parchment paper to allow the chocolate to set.
Notes
- Almond extract can be substituted if you prefer to make almond biscotti, or anise extract can be used for Italian anise flavored biscotti.
- Other types of nuts or dried fruits (or a mix) can be substituted if desired. Keep in mind that harder nuts like almonds will make slicing your biscotti more challenging, and it's already a tricky process.
- Option: If making chocolate dipped biscotti, you can optionally roll the dipped portions in some extra chopped nuts.
- The dough may appear slightly crumbly at this stage. Test it by pressing some together in your hand. If it doesn't hold together, add a splash more non-dairy milk.
- I like to remove the log from the baking sheet and place it directly on the cooling rack after 15 minutes to speed things up. Cooling will take at least 30 minutes.
- For best results, use a sharp non-serrated knife, starting by scoring the top of the log with the point of the knife. Go slow and be careful when cutting to avoid breaking the cookies.
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We love your vegan recipe. My son is in town and he is vegan. I will be making my third batch for him to bring home. I’m not vegan and I love your vegan biscotti recipe❣️
I have been making this biscotti every Christmas for a few years now. It is so delicious. I always hated any kind of crunchy sweet cookie but these are just amazing with some hot tea. I gift them to friends and family and they all love them. I think I will try adding some orange zest this year. Thank you!
Hello, I am just wondering but what is the thought behind no egg replacer like a Flax Egg or something like that?
None needed! My guide to vegan egg substitutes explains why I do this sometimes, but the TLDR is basically that if it's just an egg or two, sometimes it's not worth overcomplicating the recipe.
I stumbled upon this trying to make biscotti for my vegan friends, and was pleasantly surprised! I haven't baked for a while and even I could follow it, and while I found it needed a bit more time in the oven to get properly crispy that might just be my own preference. Thank you!
I've just been seeing way too much oil, butter & sugar in your recipes of late, for my taste.
Gail
Sorry to hear that! Since I don't consider this a health food site I don't generally make an effort to minimize these ingredients. You might want to check out some sites geared towards whole food plant based diets if that's what you're looking for.
Would this recipe work with gluten-free flour?
I haven't tried it with gluten-free flour so I can't say for sure, but I'd definitely proceed with caution if you'd like to give it a try. They're already a bit tricky to slice and gluten-free flour tends to have less binding capacity than wheat flour, so they might crumble.