Brown Butter Pistachio Biscotti

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Biscotti is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and these brown butter pistachio biscotti take comfort eating to a whole new level. Nothing can beat curling up with a good book, hot tea, and the warm, cozy flavors of browned butter, crunchy pistachios, and warm cardamom. Let’s get baking.

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Ode to Biscotti

Sweet, beautiful biscotti. You are a misunderstood dream of a cookie. Some people don’t like a super hard cookie because that’s kinda weird. But when you dip this masterpiece into a hot beverage, it becomes a melt in your mouth bite of amazingness. Not soggy, just tender and full of flavor.

And then if you do like biscotti, it can seem like an intense bake, so it’s best to stick to store bought biscotti, right? Wrong! It takes me all day to whip up a batch of homemade biscotti, but it’s easy and the flavor is unmatched.

Don’t Bake in July

I’m totes kidding. But if you live in a hot place, say Texas, and today’s high is 108℉, maybe don’t bake a recipe that requires a hot beverage on the side. Because that’s what I did. No regrats though. Not a single letter (please tell me if you are picking up that reference!).

Brown butter pistachio biscotti is a delicious treat any day of the year, but I feel like the flavors are particularly suited for fall and winter. Cardamom is just such a cozy spice and combined with buttery pistachios, you are practically required to wear a sweater and stare out the window at freshly fallen snow while you eat these.

What I would give for snow right now…

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Making Brown Butter Pistachio Biscotti From Scratch

Like I said, biscotti are totes easy to make from scratch. You will need time to chill, then to bake, then to cool, then to bake again. That’s why it takes me forever, but most of the time is hands off, so you just have to be home. That’s the hardest part.

But I also made you a video to show you how I make my brown butter pistachio biscotti. Check it out and let me know if there’s a step that trips you up. I can cover any biscotti issues in a future video!

Recipe Swaps

The great thing about baking from scratch is that you can make your biscotti to suit your own tastes. I loved everything about this recipe and have no tweaks for my own tastes, but you should make it however you want it.

Brown Butter – This adds gorgeous, but subtle caramel and toffee notes to the biscotti. It is a very mild flavor, but if you want, just use 80g of melted unsalted butter. 

Pistachio – Okay, kinda the main flavor of this recipe, but you could 100% swap this out for almond or hazelnuts. Or even use almond flour, but keep the chopped pistachios. 

Cardamom – Try cinnamon or clove, but I would use a smaller amount to start with. Heck, you could even mix several spices together. 

Related Reading: Hazelnut Mocha Biscotti

Top Tips for Biscotti

• Use bowl scrapers to shape the dough into a log. Wearing gloves can help minimize the mess too.
• Make sure the biscotti loaf is FULLY baked after the first go in the oven. If the center feels soft, pop it back in until completely cooked through. It should be a light golden brown.
• Let the loaf cool completely before slicing for the best texture.
• Prevent the sliced biscotti from burning by insulating the bottoms with a silicone mat and adding a second baking tray.

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Pistachio Notes

If possible, try to use unsalted pistachios. This recipe doesn’t have a lot of salt in it though, so if you can’t find that, you should still be fine. When we lived in Maryland, I couldn’t find unsalted pistachios anywhere, but our HEB in Texas had them in the bulk section.

I’ve never seen pistachio flour sold in stores, but if that exists and you can get it, it’ll save you some effort. Instead, I just pulsed my nuts in the food processor until they became nice and fine. For pistachio macarons, you have to worry about releasing oils, but that’s not a concern with biscotti. Just don’t turn it into pistachio butter!

Secret to Crisp Biscotti

Every time I make biscotti, I have a minor freak out about how long these cookies spend in the oven. It’s over an hour total!! But, if you want perfectly crisp, crunchy biscotti, you’ve got to nail that first bake.

Make sure that the center of the biscotti loaf is cooked through. Poke with a toothpick, or just tap gently with your finger. If a toothpick comes out wet, or the loaf indents without springing back, it is not done.

If you pull it out too soon, that under cooked portion will become tough and hard, not crisp and tender, during the second bake.

Related Reading: Classy Recipe Ideas For Your Tea Party

Chocolate Finisher

Normally, I dip my biscotti bottoms in chocolate, but I thought I’d change it up with these brown butter pistachio biscotti. Check out my orange cardamom biscotti video for a great dip with coating the bottoms!

This time, I melted just 1 ounce of leftover chocolate for a delicate little drizzle. I had a brain fart and almost forgot to sprinkle them with my leftover pistachio flour though! That’s optional, but it adds flavor and looks pretty.

Enjoy!

Grab yourself a hot mug of coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate and let your brown butter pistachio biscotti have a little dunk. The biscotti soaks up the warm, cozy beverage and melts beautifully with each bite.

You won’t regret this recipe, even if you make it during triple digit temperatures. Some things are worth the heat.  If you loved this recipe, you might love the Fig, Almond, and Orange Biscotti recipe in my Desserts For Days Cookbook!

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Brown Butter Pistachio Biscotti

The buttery flavor of pistachios is paired with the toffee notes of browned butter and cozy cardamom. Dip these biscotti in hot coffee or tea for a special treat!

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Brown Butter, Brunch, Chocolate, Cookies, Fall, Holiday, Nuts, Pistachio

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Chilling & Cooling Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 14 biscotti

Calories 222kcal

Author Colleen

Ingredients

• 100 g unsalted butter
• 50 g pistachio flour*
• 190 g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 160 g sugar
• 100 g pistachios chopped
• 25 g semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium- low heat, stirring occasionally. Once completely melted, turn the heat up to medium and continue to cook, stirring regularly. The butter will eventually turn an amber color. Measure out 80g of the brown butter and set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
• Add the pistachio flour, cake flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until it has at least doubled in size, about 3- 5 minutes. Add the melted butter and stir gently to combine.
• Add the dry ingredients and gently fold until just about combined. Add the chopped pistachios. Fold to combine. Cover the bowl and chill until cold, about 1- 3 hours.
• About 15 minutes before you are ready to take the dough out of the fridge, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Turn the biscotti dough out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into a 12 inch log. I suggest wearing food safe gloves as the dough may be quite sticky. It also helps to use two cake scrapers to shape the dough.
• Bake the log for 25- 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and completely baked through. When you touch the top of the biscotti loaf, it should not sink in. Cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack.
• Cool completely, at least an hour or two. When the log is nearly cool, preheat the oven to 325°F. Slice into 1 inch cookies on a slight diagonal. Place the cookies upright on the lined baking sheet. Insulate the bottom of the baking sheet by placing it inside a second baking sheet of the same size. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Place cookies on a cooling rack and cool completely.
• Once the cookies are cool, chop your chocolate as finely as possible and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HALF power for 10 seconds at a time, stirring well between bursts. Once it is mostly melted, but still chunky, stir until completely melted. There is enough residual heat to melt the chocolate.
• Place the biscotti on wax paper and use a spoon or a piping bag to drizzle chocolate over the cookies. Let the chocolate set. Enjoy with a hot beverage! Store on the counter in an air tight container layered between wax or parchment paper for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

• *To make pistachio flour, pulse pistachios in a food processor until fine. Some medium pieces are okay.
• Makes 14- 16 biscotti depending on how you slice the biscotti loaf.

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