The base of this gluten-free biscotti recipe is made with just 5 ingredients –almond flour, salt, baking soda, honey, and egg. After mixing these healthy ingredients together to form the dough, you simply stir in the next 3 scrumptious ingredients –dried cranberries, dark chocolate, and pecans. Voila, you’ve got incredibly tasty paleo biscotti cookies!
Every newly diagnosed celiac I know wants a good gluten-free cookie recipe. I sure did when I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998. I like that this healthy biscotti recipe is made with high-protein almond flour, rather than rice flour, which is the flour typically used in gluten-free desserts.
Quick and easy this paleo biscotti recipe is perfect with a cup of tea for a healthy dessert or nutritious snack.
My friend Aimee was here the other day and I gave her one of these biscotti fresh out of the oven. She is not on a gluten-free foods diet, so I was concerned she might not be as enthusiastic about them as my family is.
I asked her how the biscotti tasted and she replied, “this is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!” She’s more of the quiet and understated type, so her feedback meant a lot to me.
- ½ cup honey
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup pecans, chopped
- In a large bowl, blend honey and egg with a hand blender
- In a separate bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, and baking soda
- Add dry ingredients to wet, stir until combined
- Mix in chocolate, cranberries, and pecans
- Form dough into 4 logs 5" long and 3" wide on a parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350° for 20 minutes
- Remove from oven and cool for 2 hours
- Transfer log to a cutting board and cut into ½ inches slices on the diagonal
- Place biscotti on parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake at 350° for 6 minutes, turn slices over and bake for an additional 6 minutes
- Remove from oven, let cool until crunchy about 20 minutes
- Serve
Here are some of my other gluten-free dessert recipes:
Elana Amsterdam says
Hi Connie,
Thanks for your comment. I made the original recipe and encountered similar issues to you, so I retested it a bunch of times to come up with a newer and better version above.
Elana
Ali says
Just took the logs out of the oven and they spread quite a bit. I’m waiting for them to cool, so I can slice them and put them back in the oven. I noticed right off the bat that something was off because when I whipped the honey and egg, it didn’t actually get fluffy. I kept the hand mixer on for a good 5 minutes, but it stayed a frothy consistency. Is that normal? The only substitutions I made were chopped almonds/raisins for the pecans/cranberries. Could the fact that my egg mixture didn’t get fluffy be the cause of my logs spreading out or could it be something else? Thanks!
Elana Amsterdam says
Hi Ali,
I don’t think the lack of frothiness is the issue, I’m guessing it could be the type/brand of almond flour used in the recipe. The description you give above is generally what happens when coarsely ground brands of almond flour are used in my recipes. For more information on this take a look at my almond flour page:
http://elanaspantry.com/ingredients/blanched-almond-flour/
Elana
Carm says
I have tried this recipe 3 times and it never turns out right! I am using regular almond flour – is that why? When I take the log out of the oven it is still very soft but the ends are very cooked. What am I doing wrong?
Elana says
Hi Carm, yes, that is the issue, my recipes require blanched almond flour, and best results come from using the recommended brands that are in green text in the ingredients portion of the recipes. For additional information on baking with almond flour you may want to check out this page:
https://elanaspantry.com/almond-flour/
I hope you enjoy the biscotti next time!
Elana
Jehan says
Love this recipe!!! tried it today (half quantity) just to test it out and fell in love! I’m going to replace the flavour with date and walnuts and add mixed spice to it at the weekend for my inlaws ???????????? thank u so much for the recipe!
Trista says
I made these with Enjoy Life’s mini chocolate chips instead of the chocolate drops, with Zante currants instead of raisins, and walnuts instead of pecans. I was just using ingredients I had on hand.
They turned out WONDERFUL.. AMAZING. I have never made biscotti before, but I’ve never made a recipe from Elana that wasn’t great.
Angela says
The first time I made this the biscotti got quite dark, not burned but close to it. I just made it again today, but I decreased the 2nd and 3rd bake times to just 10 minutes each. The biscotti looks perfect.
kelsey says
Hi Elana,
I’m making these as a Christmas gift!! Thanks so much for everything you do! I love your website!
Kelly says
your link didn’t work….
Nikki says
I have made two attempts at this recipe and each time I have burned the cookies. I even used an oven thermometer to check the oven temperature and a ruler to measure out the width of the cookie slices. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Jessica says
Hmmm… I’ve made these twice and each time they have come out great.
What kind of almond flour are you using? also, is it blanched almond flour? did you substitute any of the ingredients?
Nikki says
Thank you. Hmmm… I used blanched almond flour. My only substitutions were: amaretto-soaked cherries for cranberries and almond slivers for pecans (because of a ruffly-nut allergy). Could it be the boozy fruit?
Daniel says
jewels,
you might want to check out Elana’s FAQs regarding ingredient substitutions…
jewels says
Your recipes look fantastic. I have 2 people in my house with type 1 diabetes and another child with severe tree nut allergies. Can you recommend any other non nut based flour as a substitute for your recipes?
Thanks!
Jewels
Elana says
Hi Jewels, I haven’t made these cookies without a nut based flour, here’s a link to my nut-free recipes page:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/nut-free/
I hope you find something that your children can enjoy!
Elana
elana says
Shannon,
Wow, love your substitutions. Very low-carb! Wish I could digest xylitol, though it doesn’t agree with me. Your version sounds delicious!!!
Thanks,
Elana
Shannon says
I made these today, but with some substitutions using what I had on hand.
I substituted xylitol for the agave, used walnuts and bits of unsweetened chocolate and added a pinch of stevia since I was using unsweetened chocolate. So yummy.
Elana says
Shannon,
Wow, love your substitutions. Very low-carb! Wish I could digest xylitol, though it doesn’t agree with me. Your version sounds delicious!!!
Thanks,
Elana
Sarah says
How much xylitol ? Did you use powdered or granulated? When did you add it? To the egg mixture or dry
Lisa says
Hi Elana,
I just made brownies out of this recipe; I added 1/4 cocoa powder and left out the cranberries, poured the batter into a 4 x 8 pyrex and baked just until set, they came out delicious! I’m sure you could probably enhance the recipe, but thanks for the starting off point. It’s so great to find gluten-free recipes that are more health conscious,
Lisa
Elana says
Lisa,
That sounds incredible!
Thanks,
Elana
elana says
What a coincidence! My name is Elana, and I’m a gluten-free vegetarian…with vegan tendancies! What are the odds? Amazing.
Elana says
Elana,
That is too funny!
Elana
Anna Rhoades says
What can you use instead of agave nectar?
Thanks
Elana says
Anna,
I get asked this type of question a lot. I set up a frequently asked questions page which addresses substitutions in my recipes. Please see my faqs for more information.
You may also want to post a topic on this issue in the forums.
Thanks,
Elana
robyn says
Anna Rhoades, I often use Coconut Secret’s Coconut Nectar in place of agave as it’s also a sticky liquid (so it doesn’t change the recipe) and supposedly much healthier than agave with a low glycemic index and more nutrients. (Of course, they said that about agave at first, too! But I’ll keep using it until I hear otherwise.) I get it at Whole Foods.
I tend to cut back on the quantity a little because I do find it maybe slightly sweeter than agave and I don’t like things very sweet anyway.