Biscotti Thins are one of my favorite cookies, and this my all-time favorite recipe. However, I can’t say I've ever made these crunchy egg white cookies the same way twice! I usually mix and match the fruit, or sometimes I just get trail mix or various dried fruit and nut blends. They're a lot of fun, and a great way to use egg whites.
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Quick Rundown on How to Make
The steps for making these are pretty simple.
- Put egg whites in a stand mixer bowl and beat to soft peaks.
- Gradually add sugar, salt and vanilla and beat until peaks are stiff. You're basically making a meringue.
- Fold in the flour, followed by nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit of choice. The meringue will sink quite a bit, but that's okay.
- Spread in a loaf pan and bake. Let cool, then slice and bake at a low temperature to dry.
Update: Here's a picture of some biscotti after the first bake. This is a weird batch because I made half regular and half keto (an experiment).
Freezing and Slicing
And here's what they looked like after I sliced them off the loaf. To make the biscotti thin, I froze the loaf and used a serrated knife. The keto ones are on the right and are a work in progress. I just substituted almond flour for the regular flour, used Lakanto monk fruit blend for the sugar and added a whole lot of Lily's chocolate chips along with pecans and maple extract. I've noticed keto biscotti takes longer to dry out. The "normal" ones are on the left and are made with walnuts, apricots and cranberries.
Swedish Almond Cake Pans
While I haven't yet tested this recipe in one, there's a type of loaf pan with a rounded bottom that would be perfect for these cookies. You'd have to grease rather than line with parchment, but that would be even easier. I will report back after testing, but this should make beautiful crunchy egg white cookies aka Biscotti Thins. I just put in an order.
Storing
The only downside to homemade biscotti thins is that they are addictive. Seriously, they are hard to stop eating. I usually eat a few and hide the rest in the freezer, where of course they’ll stay fresh for months. Biscotti thins will stay fresh at room temperature for about a week, after which they'll still taste good but not quite as great.
Using Aquafaba for Vegan Eggless Biscotti
I recently made a couple of batches using aquafaba, the liquid from a can of chickpeas, in place of the egg whites. It worked well. I used 140 grams of aquafaba, 2 cups of sliced almonds (a lot more than in the original), 100 grams of flour, 100 grams of sugar (I usually use 125), 2 teaspoons of almond extract and a 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I also added ¼ teaspoon of baking powder which may have lightened the texture somewhat but is not critical.
These can be made with almost any kind of chopped dried fruit, nut, candy and flavorings. You can also halve the recipe and bake it in cupcake tins or smaller loaf tins, in which case you have to cut the bake time somewhat. But usually it's made in a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Recipe
Cranberry, White Chip and Pecan Biscotti Thins
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites (140 to 150 grams)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar (125 grams)
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon salt can omit or use less if desired**
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (100 grams)
- ⅔ cup toasted and chopped pecans
- ⅓ cup white chips or other flavor chip
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with strips of parchment paper.
- In a metal or glass bowl, beat whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, vanilla and salt, continuing until whites are stiff.
- Sprinkle flour over meringue mixture, and with a heavy duty silicone scraper, fold it in.
- Mix together the pecans, chips and cranberries and fold them in carefully.
- Spoon the batter into your prepared loaf pan, spreading evenly. Bake on center rack for 35 minutes or until golden – it will still be a little soft. Cool loaf in pan for about 20 minutes, then remove from pan and let it cool to room temperature. When it’s almost cool, transfer to the refrigerator and chill until very cold – this makes it easier to slice. Better yet, freeze! You can keep the log frozen for as long as you want, and then slice while frozen.
- Preheat oven again to 250 degrees F.
- Peel parchment off the cold loaf. With a serrated knife cut loaf crosswise into thin slices – mine are usually between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick. Arrange slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for about 45 minutes (check at 30 minutes), switching racks halfway through. The goal is to dry them out without letting them get too brown, so keep a close eye on them. Remove from the oven and let cool. If they’re not completely crisp while hot, they should crisp as they cool.
Anna says
Hello! I'm so glad you like those Cosmic Brownie Cookies. They were fun. And congratulations on the new bread knife. My life feels changed every time I get mine professionally sharpened. About the biscotti, this recipe is one you can really customize. I haven't tried making the biscotti with whole wheat pastry flour, but it should work. I need to make a batch soon so I can take a new photo.
Sugardoll says
Hi Anna, it's me again. I wanted to make biscotti for a friend and thought I'd check your site for a new (to me) recipe to try, since I've had such good results with the other recipes I've tried (I've made the Cosmic Brownie Cookies 4 times!). I went through a biscotti phase several years ago and made so. much. biscotti. Yet, I'd never come across a recipe like this one, so I was intrigued. Plus, I had 3 pint jars of egg whites left over from making lots and lots of fruit curd for my current obsession, cheesecake & curd stuffed cookies. I made a double batch to fill up my 12x5.5x2 biscotti pan and used sweetened tart cherries, raw pistachios, and mini white chips. I baked it for 45 minutes, froze the loaf after it had cooled off, then cut roughly ¼" thick slices with a serrated bread knife (side note: several years ago I bought a new bread knife to replace my 20-year old knife and it was a game-changer!). Ended up with 44 5x2 slices. Wow, these are good! Crispy & light and just sweet enough. Dangerously snackable and I can even imagine eating them for breakfast. I'm looking forward to using up my remaining egg whites with other fruit/nut combinations. Have you ever tried making these with whole wheat pastry flour? I'm not a fan of white whole wheat flour, but I do like whole wheat pastry flour and am thinking of giving that a shot. Thank you for another excellent recipe!
Anna says
Jane, thank you for the comment! I'm glad you are having fun with the recipe and love that you've made it your own with new add-ins.
Jane says
Best best best recipe make all the time with different additions
Anna says
Jane, thanks for the comment! These cookies have been on my mind lately too. I think I'll make some this week and add new photos.
Jane says
I’ve made these several times excellent reciie
Anna says
Hi Jane!
What are you using for the egg? Aquafaba?
Jane says
I made these 3 times different every time .vegan,with chips and one with baking powder I’m making now
Anna says
Shirley, I'm going to hold you to that.
Sue, they are good for both.
Jan, I use a serrated knife. I've found some biscotti recipes work better with a regular knife while some are easier to cut with serrated. These definitely fall into the serrated category.
Carolyn, thanks so much for taking the time to make them and post a comment! I really appreciate it. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, but I was on vacation.
Carolyn says
Wow - these are so good! Completely addictive! These are right up there with the cookie bark/brittle recipe from a couple of years ago. Thank you!
Jan Harris says
I just finished eating my last pack of thin addictives, they're pretty good. My concern is the slicing of these, do you use a serrated knife, maybe electric? I have one impaired hand and it is difficult to slice, especially so narrow. I'd love to try these though!
Sue says
These would be fun to have as part of a dessert or snack table.
shirley says
Sound great, Anna. Maybe ? I'll really make these later this week or coming weekend. Alex has been asking for biscotti!
Anna says
The same way, but line some cupcake cups with paper liners, divide the batter between the cups, and decrease the baking time to about 20 minutes. Once you've baked the little cupcakes, you chill the "cakes", turn them on their sides, slice into thin rounds, and dry out in a 250 oven.
sharona says
how would you make them in cupcake cups?
Anna says
Jessica, I've seen those but have never tried them. The packaged version I used to buy was called Almondina and could only be found in gourmet stores or delis.
Jessica says
How funny! These look just like the cranberry almond thins I bought at Costco yesterday...and the brand is called Thinaddictives. Sounds like an appropriate name, but something tells me that your version would taste even better.