This easy and festive Cranberry Lemon Biscotti recipe is perfect for the holidays. A crunchy Italian cookie flavored with lemon, cinnamon, and dried cranberries will be everyone’s favorite on the cookie platter!
Cranberry Lemon Biscotti Recipe
Is Christmas really a little over a week away?
Where has the time gone?
I thought it was just Thanksgiving last week?
Obviously, I don’t look at the calendar as much as I should and, in my defense, I’ve been spending all my free time in the kitchen, baking goodies to give away for Christmas.
I had the best intentions to turn this year’s holiday baking extravaganza into several recipe posts and have even gone as far as to take photos of all the treats. Then I realized the other day I have absolutely no time to sit down and actually write the posts for these recipes.
What’s up with this food blogging business? I’ve got to make the food, take pics, and write? Geez…well, I guess I could always just post the photos and the recipe and say “Here ya go! Peace out and Merry Christmas!”
…Here ya go! Peace out and Merry Christmas!
Just kidding….
One of my favorite holiday cranberry recipes
During my undergrad college years, I had a wholesale biscotti business, where I sold the Italian twice-baked cookies to local coffee shops and restaurants. One of my best sellers was a cranberry orange one and everyone loved it, especially for breakfast with coffee or tea.
I planned to bake some for Christmas goodies and figured it would also make a great recipe post, until I got out my bottle of orange extract and realized it was empty.
Now, I live exactly 1.5 miles from a grocery store but I’ll be damned if I will get in my car IN THE COLD and drive to the store to buy a much needed food item to finishing cooking or baking.
So instead, I substituted a few drops of a food grade lemon essential oil for the orange extract and guess what?
I actually liked it better than the original orange recipe. It’s like a lemon poppy seed cookie without the poppy seeds!!
And with cranberries, of course. Yes folks, it’s a win-win this holiday season, as long as sugar is involved.
Divide the dough into 2 or 3, shape each into a rectangular loaf and gently pat down the top.
PIN this easy and delicious Cranberry Lemon Biscotti recipe to add to your holiday baking schedule. Also, Santa thanks you in advance for leaving a plate of these out on Christmas Eve.
Cranberry Lemon Biscotti Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries , chopped
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/176C degrees.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then add the dried cranberries, sugar, oil, and extracts. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix together well, until a dough is formed and is slightly stiff, but still soft.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal pieces. Form each dough piece into a small rectangular loaf. Place loaves on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 5 minutes.
- Reduce oven to 300F/148C degrees. Remove slightly cooled biscotti loaves from the pan and cut into 15 (½-3/4″) slices on the diagonal with a sharp knife. Place the slices back on the baking sheet and bake for additional 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and transfer biscotti to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- Store leftover biscotti in an air-tight container for 4-6 weeks.
- Can freeze cooked biscotti for longer storage.
Denee says
Hi Karrie! Made these last week and they were delicious! First time making biscotti. I followed the recipe, and they came out great! Super easy recipe!
Will the biscotti really keep for 6 weeks? I’m participating in an Advents Calendar project and the biscotti would need stay fresh for 5 weeks before the recipients would get to enjoy them.
Karrie says
Hi Denee, Thank you and so happy you liked the recipe! Yes, the biscotti will keep fresh if it is kept in an air tight container. The drier the biscotti is, the longer it will stay fresh, as long as all the moisture was cooked out during the second baking. I’ve frozen the cooked biscotti for longer storage, so that’s an option too.