Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe
This gingerbread biscotti recipe is packed with warm spices, molasses, and brown sugar for a bold gingerbread flavor. I like my gingerbread with plenty of spice, so these biscotti include ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and a little black pepper. A crackled powdered sugar topping gives them a festive finish, and their crisp texture makes them perfect for dunking, gifting, or shipping.
You may also be interested in my classic gingerbread cake recipe and my gingerbread molasses cookies recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my gingerbread recipes in one place.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
◆ Big gingerbread flavor — Plenty of ginger and warm spices give these biscotti a distinctly spiced flavor.
◆ Perfect for gifting — They keep well and their crunchy texture makes them a good choice for cookie tins and care packages.
◆ Makes 3 dozen — One batch gives you plenty for holiday cookie trays, gifts and dunking with coffee.
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Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe
I use a generous amount of ginger for a more pronounced gingerbread flavor, with black pepper adding a little bite in the background. Along with a mix of other spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and cardamom, the biscotti have a a classic gingerbread taste.
Rather than dipping the biscotti in chocolate, I coat them in powdered sugar before baking. As they bake, the sugar develops a crackled finish that gives these biscotti their distinctive look.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour — Regular all purpose flour is the backbone of the recipe. Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure.
- Butter — Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in your baked goods.
- Eggs — Provide moisture and structure to the dough. Large eggs are the standard in most recipes.
- Baking powder + baking soda — Gives the biscotti a bit of lift and helps the dough spread just the right amount.
- Spices — Sea salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cardamom, ground black pepper
- Sugar + Brown sugar — This combination gives the biscotti a more complex flavor.
- Vanilla — Brings warmth and sweetness to the biscotti.
- Molasses — Dark molasses, not blackstrap.
- Powdered sugar — For dusting the tops.
How to make
Here’s a quick summary of how to make ginger molasses biscotti. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe. As with any and all recipes, read it through before you begin. Gather all of your ingredients and measure everything ahead of time.
- Measure the spices and flour, then whisk them together. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugars and eggs. Add in vanilla and molasses.
- Add the flour mixture into the molasses mixture and mix until just combined. It will form a slightly stiff dough, be careful not to overwork it.
- Remove the dough from the bowl of the mixer and shape it into two even loaves.
- Dust the tops of the loaves with powdered sugar. Slide them into the oven to bake.
- After you’ve sliced the biscotti, lay them on their sides and slide them back into the oven for another 10 – 12 minutes for the second bake.
Pro Tip: If you want to make your biscotti extra crunchy, let them dry out after baking — Shut the oven off and leave the oven door cracked open (use a wooden spoon or something similar to prop the door open). Let the biscotti dry out in the warm oven for 20 – 30 minutes.
How to Slice Biscotti Without Breaking Them
If you’re not sure how to cut biscotti, I have some tips for you. The best advice is to use a sharp, serrated knife. The serrated knife that I own is the one I just linked to. It isn’t inexpensive, but I’ve had this knife for 22 years and it still slices through bread, biscotti, or whatever else I throw at it, with ease.
One of the reasons I prefer this particular knife to other serrated knives is the blade. It is thinner than many other knives, which means it easily glides through whatever you’re slicing. The blade on most serrated knives, like a bread knife, is thicker and they don’t glide through things quite as easily.
When we’re talking about delicate cookies that we are trying not to break, that makes a difference. The blade on a regular knife will not work as well, it tends to crush the biscotti instead of slicing.
The other important factor is to let the cookies cool between the first and second bake. The cookies need to set enough to be sliced — think about trying to pick up a hot cookie right out of the oven. It usually falls apart, doesn’t it? Same concept here, you need to let them cool enough to handle before trying to slice.
Chef’s Tip
A helpful tip when slicing is to avoid too much “sawing” through the biscotti. Position the front of the blade where you want to start cutting and slice through in a smooth motion.
Don’t apply too much downward pressure — let the knife do the work.
Variations and substitutions
- Orange gingerbread biscotti — Add 1 tablespoon orange zest to the dough.
- Chocolate gingerbread biscotti — Add 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips.
- Pecan gingerbread biscotti — Add 1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans.
- Chocolate Drizzle — Skip the powdered sugar dusting, and drizzle with melted white or dark chocolate.
Serving suggestions
- Cookie platters: The recipe makes 3 dozen, enough for a holiday platter or cookie exchange.
- Gifts: They’re sturdy, so they are cookies that travel well in the mail. If you’re shipping them, see my guide on how to ship cookies without breaking.
- With a drink: Serve them with coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
Storage / Freezing Information
To store: Once completely cool, store the biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: For longer storage, freeze the biscotti without the powdered sugar topping in an airtight container, or freezer bag, for up to 3 months.
Helpful tools and equipment
- Heavy duty sheet pans that hold up to high temps without warping.
- Parchment paper sheets are MUCH easier to use than tearing pieces off of a roll.
- Kitchen scale – Weighing flour is the most accurate way to measure.
- Slicing knife – The same knife I used int his recipe.
Gingerbread Biscotti Recipe FAQ’s
If you are looking for cookies that ship well, biscotti are a great option because they’re crisp and sturdy, but they still need to be packed properly to prevent breakage. See my guide to how to ship cookies without breaking for packing tips.
Biscotti dough freezes really well. Wrap the dough in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and slide into a freezer bag. Store up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
There could be factors contributing to this issue:
1. Your dough may be too warm, and not set enough to slice through.
2. You may be applying too much pressure when slicing — remember, let the knife do the work.
3. The knife itself. The best knife for slicing delicate biscotti dough is a thin serrated blade.
The likely culprit is that the biscotti didn’t spend enough time in the oven during the second bake. They need time to dry out in the oven in order to be crunchy.
More Biscotti Recipes
Love homemade biscotti? Try a few more of my favorite recipes.
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Gingerbread Biscotti
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 300g
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature / 85g
- ¾ cup light brown sugar 150g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 50g
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and black pepper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars for 3 – 4 minutes. Then, add eggs and beat until combined.
- Add vanilla and molasses, mix to combine well. Scrape down bowl.
- Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Remove dough from mixer bowl and divide in half. Using lightly floured hands, form dough into two equal logs roughly 3 inches wide and 12 inches long.
- Dust with powdered sugar and bake for 30 minutes, rotating tray halfway through if you do not have a convection oven.
- Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle comfortably. Transfer biscotti loaf to cutting board and slice into 1/2" slices.
- Place biscotti, cut side down, back on baking sheet and bake for an additional 15 – 18 minutes, until crunchy.
- Cool on wire rack. After completely cooled, store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Chef’s Notes
- During the second bake, make sure the biscotti feels slightly dried out before you remove it, otherwise you’ll end up with soft, not crunchy, biscotti. *Removing moisture is what helps them stay “fresh” for up to 2 weeks.
- If you prefer biscotti on the less crunchy side, you can take it out a minute or two sooner than the directions suggest.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. Use your preferred nutritional calculator using the products and brands you are using for exact information.
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Originally published 11/9/19, most recent update 11/4/26.
The recipe felt like it required too much butter and my dough was abit too wet almost like a thick cake batter so I used quite abit of flour to fold it out and refrigerated it overnight after shaping because I honestly just got too tired ( was on a baking spree that day ) thawed it out next morning, a sprinkle of dusting sugar and it turned out beautifully.
I’m not too fond of very dry biscotti so second bake was at 150 degrees for a little under 10mins.
The flavours are great. I also added about a handful of toasted chopped pecans and boy oh boy half of them are already gone.
I’m glad you made the recipe for you and you enjoyed it.
I don’t think I’ve ever made anything ginger bread so in my biscotti baking day, I had to try these. Oh they’re perfect! Have to make more as I gave all of them as gifts lol.
This one is a favorite of mine. I’m sure the recipients were thankful for your generosity!