Easy Sourdough Biscotti Cookies – A Discard Recipe

Easy sourdough biscotti cookies are a crisp, twice-baked Italian cookie filled with toasted almonds, lemon zest, and sourdough discard for the ultimate dunking cookies.

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This sourdough discard biscotti recipe has the same great flavor of traditional biscotti, but with the added benefit of sourdough discard. Not only is it a great way to find a way to use up the discard, it also adds all of the beneficial bacteria sourdough is known for.

Biscotti is one of the most underrated holiday cookies there is. While most people think of soft molasses cookies, gingerbread cut-outs, or fanciful sugar cookies this time of year, I’d like to put this Italian cookie at the top of the list. They encompass some of the most important factors for a holiday cookie; easy to transport, long shelf-life, and an abundance of flavors – biscotti checks all the boxes and can’t be beat.

Beyond their ability to withstand the holidays, they also happen to taste great. With a strong almond flavor and a subtle brightness from the lemon zest, the crunchy texture of these Italian cookies is perfect to dunk in your morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Long Shelf Life—One of my favorite things is freshly baked cookies! They are warm, gooey, and so delicious! However, the longer they sit, the drier they become. Biscotti is the solution to this predicament. Twice baked, these crispy cookies are hard and dry, with a crispy texture, lasting for weeks if stored in an airtight container, if they last that long!
• Not Too Sweet – I love my sweets, but sometimes it’s nice to have a crunchy cookie option that’s not too sweet.
• Perfect for Dunking – The crunchy texture makes them the perfect dunking cookie.
• Healthy – Biscotti is generally lower in sugar compared to other cookies, making them an ideal treat to have around the holidays.
• Simple – While they look complicated to make, biscotti is rather simple to make with its straight forward directions. They’re tasty whether you decide to dress up biscotti with a drizzle of chocolate or leave them plain.

What Is Biscotti?

Biscotti is a twice-baked cookie originating from Italy. Derived from the Latin, “bis,” meaning twice, and “coctus,” meaning cooked, for a cookie that’s baked twice to produce a dry, crisp texture cookie with an elongated shape.

The dough is baked in a long, flat log, then sliced, and then baked a second time. Spending almost an hour in the oven, these cookies are drier than most holiday cookies. The dry texture is perfect for dunking in a hot cup of coffee, milk, or wine like the Italians do.

With so many different flavors, including chocolate, pistachio, cranberry, cappuccino, and almond, there’s no shortage of fun ways to enjoy crispy biscotti cookies.

Ingredients

• Sourdough Starter – Incorporating sourdough starter into biscotti dough is a great way to use up sourdough discard. This recipe is formulated to use a 100% hydration starter, meaning it’s been fed equal parts flour and water.
• Sugar – Adds just a bit of sweetness and helps the biscotti to brown
• Butter – Make sure salted butter is softened to room temperature.
• Egg – Use a large, room-temperature egg for easy mixing.
• Lemon zest – The lemon zest brightens the cookie’s flavor. Be sure to zest just the lemon rind and not the pith, the white part under the peel, because of its bitter flavor. You can substitute orange zest for variety.
• Almond extract – Gives the biscotti a delicious almond flavor.
• Vanilla extract – Playing a support role, the vanilla extract adds a subtle flavor to the almond extract.
• Flour – I use all-purpose flour in all of my baked goods. It has the perfect protein content to produce a tender biscotti.
• Salt – Flavors the biscotti.
• Baking powder – The leavening agent that creates a fluffy sourdough biscotti.
• Sliced almonds – Toasting the almonds brings out its nutty qualities for maximum flavor. Toast in a pan on the stove or in the oven on a baking sheet. Be sure to keep an eye on them because they can go from toasted to burnt quickly.

How to Make Simple Sourdough Biscotti Cookies

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C

Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper. 

Mix the Dough

Add 113 g (1/2 cup) butter and 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, roughly 2- 3 minutes. Next, add the remaining wet ingredients, 125 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter discard, 1 large egg, 1 tbsp almond extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tbsp of lemon zest, and stir until fully combined. 

In a separate bowl, combine 312 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. 

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms. Then, mix the toasted almonds into the sourdough biscotti dough.

Shape and First Bake

Divide the dough into two equal portions and spread each half of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet in a rectangle, roughly 3 X 10 X 1 inches. Leave 2 inches between each rectangle to allow plenty of room for the biscotti to rise, using two pans if necessary. 

Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes. The dough will be soft and pale. Rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.

Cut and Second Bake

Move the biscotti to a large cutting board. I like to use a large offset spatula for support.

Cut the biscotti into 1-inch pieces with a sharp serrated knife. Cutting straight on will make consistent shaped biscotti. Cutting on the diagonal will create biscotti of varying sizes, so be sure to adjust baking times accordingly.

Place the cut biscotti onto the prepared pan, cut side up, and bake at 325°F/160°C for 20-25 minutes. Flip the biscotti and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. The biscotti doesn’t need much room between them for this bake as there isn’t more expansion in the cookies. The biscotti is done with its second bake when the edges are golden brown and the cookies feel firm in the center.

If the biscotti feels soft or gives in the center when pushed, there is still moisture in the cookie, and needs longer in the oven.

Place the biscotti on a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will continue to dry as they cool.

FAQs

How To Store Sourdough Biscotti

Because sourdough biscotti cookies have very little moisture, they store well and longer than traditional cookies. Place biscotti in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 7 days.

Can I Freeze Sourdough Biscotti?

Yes! Allow the biscotti to cool completely before placing them into a freezer-safe bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Label with the name and date and place into the freezer. Thaw at room temperature when ready to eat. For best quality enjoy within 3 months.

How Do I Toast Sliced Almonds?

Add the almonds to a heavy bottom, ungreased pan over medium heat. As the pan heats up, the almonds will begin to turn light brown and smell fragrant. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent the almonds from burning. When the almonds are golden brown, remove them from the pan and set aside to cool before adding to the dough. 

How Can I Make Sourdough Biscotti More Tangy?

Do you love sourdough’s great tangy flavor? Adding extra sourdough discard to baked goods is a great way to put that sourdough discard to good use, in addition to imparting its well-known flavor. But did you know you can control the level of tanginess in sourdough baked goods? 

Sourdough starter has different stages in its life cycle; feeding, growth, peak, and then decline. When sourdough starter is given a fresh feeding of equal amounts of flour and water, it begins to grow. Left alone and allowed to come to its peak, the starter will eventually double in size.

Once the sourdough starter reaches its maximum height it is considered active starter. At this point, you can add into breads that rely on the sourdough starter for its lifting power such as sourdough bread or cinnamon rolls. 

Once the bacteria have eaten through their food supply, the starter begins its decline, shrinking in size. If the starter is left alone without feedings for an extended period, the bacteria decrease in number and the starter becomes more acidic, producing a liquid referred to as ‘hooch,’ a visual sign that the starter needs a feeding.

The longer the sourdough starter sits without feeding, the more intense the flavor becomes. Use older discard for a strong tangy flavor. Use an active sourdough starter or new sourdough discard, less than 12 hours after its last feeding, for a less tangy flavor. 

Tips

• Weigh your ingredients – For best results, use a kitchen scale for accurate measurements. They’re not expensive and are a great tool to have in your kitchen if you bake.
• Don’t overbake – Avoid overbaking on the first bake so the biscotti doesn’t crumble when it’s cut. Excessive browning on the second bake will result in an overly hard and dry biscotti.
• Be sure to keep the knife perpendicular when cutting for an evenly cut cookie. If the knife is off center, the result will be a cookie that is thicker on the bottom than the top, or vice versa.