Cherry Almond Sourdough Biscotti

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This sourdough biscotti recipe is a fun way to use your sourdough discard. Crunchy but still slightly chewy, these sourdough biscotti cookies are loaded with dried cherries and almond slices and then dipped in white chocolate. These easy cookies are a great sourdough recipe!

Crunchy and chewy and flavorful, these twice baked Italian cookies are perfect for enjoying with your coffee or tea! Which means its perfectly acceptable to enjoy at breakfast time. If you have never made biscotti before, its a fun recipe to make because you bake it twice – first time in a log, and then you slice it into strips and bake it a second time. You can use any flavor fillings you want – here I used dried cherries and almond slices.

Other sourdough dessert recipes:

• White chocolate cranberry sourdough blondies
• Sourdough babka
• Sourdough kolaches
• Sourdough coffee cake

And check out more sourdough cookie recipes, too!

Biscotti with Sourdough Starter 

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at biscotti for a while, now, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity. See, sourdough by nature is a very “wet” dough, which is what helps to give it that chewy and air filled texture. Biscotti, on the other hand, needs to be a dry dough – if it’s too wet, it won’t dry out the way biscotti needs to.

I decided to use Susan’s (from Wild Yeast) recipe for Ginger Pecan Sourdough Biscotti as a starting ground, but I changed the  flavors from ginger/pecan to cherry and almond, along with a few other tweaks. I really liked how this biscotti turned out! The flavors were great, and there was the perfect balance between chewy and crunchy! I will definitely be making these again, and I hope you make them, too!

Try my other sourdough biscotti recipe – Cinnamon Spice Sourdough Biscotti! It uses a 100% hydration dough and has a little bit different technique. Both are great! Make them both and see which one you prefer the best!

How to Change a Liquid (100%) Starter to a Stiff (50%) Starter:

For a stiff starter you need a starter:flour:water ratio of 1:2:1. Meaning, you need to add twice as much flour as you have water and starter.

• Start with a very small amount of your 100% hydration starter, 10 grams to be exact!
• To this, add 20 grams of flour and 10 grams of water.
• Loosely cover and allow to sit on your counter.
• Every 12 hours, feed it the new ratio of 2 parts flour and 1 part water.
• After a few days your new stiff starter will be ready to go!
• Make sure you keep a part of your sourdough starter at 100% so you don’t have to do a bunch of math and work to get it back to “normal”.

How to make Recipe

This is a pretty easy recipe to make! For the complete instructions, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below. Here are some brief directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, starter, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon zest, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are well combined. The dough will be very stiff at this point.
4. Continue mixing on low speed until the gluten begins to develop, about 4 minutes. Stretch a small piece of the dough between your fingers – it needs to stretch thin before it breaks.
5. Add the sugar, in 4 or 5 increments, mixing for about 2 minutes after each addition. The dough is going to become considerably looser as you add the sugar.
6. Add the butter and mix until it is completely incorporated.
7. Add the cherries and almonds, and mix on low speed until they are incorporated.
8. Form the dough into a “log” about 10-12 inches long and as compact in width as you can make it (the dough will spread).
9. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the dough is firm but not hard.
10. Remove the bread to a cutting board and slice into ¾” slices.
11. Turn the oven down to 250F.
12. Stand the biscotti up on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet and return to the oven for an additional 40-50 minutes, or until the biscotti is dry.
13. Cool on a wire rack and then dip or drizzle with melted white chocolate. 

 FAQ

What kind of sourdough starter do I need for this recipe?

This recipe requires a stiff starter at 50% hydration. Please read the instructions for how to do this up further in the post.

How can I store biscotti?

This biscotti will last 3-5 days in an air tight container on the counter.

Can I make other variations?

You bet! You can substitute any dried fruit, nut, or chocolate chips. You can also drizzle with milk chocolate instead of white chocolate.

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Cherry Almond Sourdough Biscotti Recipe

This sourdough biscotti recipe is a fun way to use your sourdough discard. Crunchy but still slightly chewy, these sourdough biscotti cookies are loaded with dried cherries and almond slices and then dipped in white chocolate. These easy cookies are a great sourdough recipe!

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Course: Cookie Recipes

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: biscotti recipe, holiday baking, Sourdough Recipe, stiff starter recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 cookies

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Jenni – The Gingered Whisk

Equipment

• Duralex 100010 Made In France Lys Stackable 10-Piece Bowl Set
• Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker’s Big Sheet
• U-Taste 10 Piece Measuring Cups and Spoons Set

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour
• ½ cup 135 grams 50% hydration sourdough starter, active
• 2 eggs
• zest from 1 small lemon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 4 Tablesooons room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup dried cherries chopped
• 8 oz white chocolate melting discs

Instructions

• Make the dough
• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, starter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, cardamom, salt and lemon zest.
• Mix on low speed until the ingredients are well combined. The dough will be very stiff at this point.
• Continue mixing on low speed until the gluten begins to develop, about 4 minutes. Stretch a small piece of the dough between your fingers – it needs to stretch fairly thin before it breaks.
• Add the sugar, in 4 or 5 increments, mixing for about 2 minutes after each addition. The dough is going to become considerably looser as you add the sugar.
• Add the butter and mix until it is completely incorporated.
• Add the cherries and almonds, and mix on low speed until they are incorporated.
  
• Bake the cookies
• Form the dough into a "log" about 10-12 inches long and as compact in width as you can make it (the dough will spread).
• Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the dough is firm but not hard.
• Remove the bread to a cutting board and slice into ¾" slices.
• Turn the oven down to 250F.
• Stand the biscotti up on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet and return to the oven for an additional 40-50 minutes, or until the biscotti is dry.
• Cool on a wire rack until cool.
  
• Drizzle with White Chocolate
• Decide if you want to drizzle on the white chocolate or dunk one end of each biscotti piece in.
• Melt the white chocoalte by placing the white chocoalte melting discs into a micorwave safe bowl.
• Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring in between each time, until the chocolate is melted.
• Drizzle or dip each biscotti piece as desired.
• Place on a wire rack to allow the white chocolate to set.

Notes

Store in an air tight container on the counter for 3-4 days.

You can replace the cherries and almonds with other dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 125mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g