Chocolate Sourdough Biscotti

There is something so comforting about dipping a crunchy biscotti cookie in your cup of coffee. Add a little chocolate and you have a perfect pairing. This chocolate sourdough biscotti recipe yields a crisp cookie that is reminiscent of brownie brittle. The dough itself is rich in chocolate, but I added some chocolate chips to really add that next level chocolatey goodness. 

One of the things I love about these Italian cookies is that they can keep for weeks without going bad. The process of double baking them removes most of the moisture from them so they maintain their freshness much longer. This means you can make them ahead of time if you have friends or family staying with you for for the holidays. It’s a great way to do a little preparation for your guests ahead of time. 

These double chocolate biscotti are a great treat to serve your chocolate lover guests with their coffee or tea. They are sweet enough to serve as dessert but also make a great addition to the breakfast table. I like to store them in a cute mason jar with a bow wrapped around it. 

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour

Cocoa Powder: Use Dutch-processed cocoa powder rather than natural cocoa. Natural cocoa does not result in as strong of a chocolate flavor as dutch processed and so you may be disappointed in the results if you use it here. 

Baking Powder

Salt

Sourdough Discard: You can use either active sourdough starter or unfed sourdough discard. Ideally, you want your starter to be a 100% hydration starter (equal parts water and flour). 

Eggs

Sugar: although I love brown sugar, we use regular white sugar for this recipe. There is enough richness from the chocolate, and the extra moisture from brown sugar makes it a bit harder to get that nice crisp cookie we are going for. 

Butter

Is Biscotti Better with Butter or Oil?

Butter is the way to go with biscotti purely for the flavor it adds. That being said, you certainly can use oil, but you will miss out on that bakery-fresh taste that only butter can give. Olive oil can add a unique flavor as well, but tends to work better with non-chocolate varieties of biscotti.

Vanilla Extract: Traditional almond biscotti usually contains almond extract, however I substituted vanilla extract here because I think it works better with the chocolate flavor. 

Chocolate Chips: This recipe calls for dark chocolate chunks or chips, but you can also use milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips if you prefer.

What is the Secret to Making Biscotti?

The secret to making perfect biscotti with that classic crunchy texture is double baking them. Here’s how:

Make The Dough

Step 1: Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Step 2: Using the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until light and fluffy. If you don’t have a stand mixer you can also use a hand mixer or whisk the ingredients by hand. 

Step 3: Add the vanilla and sourdough discard and whisk until just smooth. 

Step 4: Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until mostly combined. Then, stir in the chocolate chips and continue to stir until everything is combined. Just be careful not to over-mix.

Shape the Dough

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into roughly two equal sized pieces. 

Use generously floured hands to shape each dough half into a rough 12” x2” x 1 inch log. This dough is quite sticky so add more flour to your hands and surface if you need to. 

Place each dough log on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. They will spread a fair amount so make sure there is at least 2 inches between them. 

The First Bake

Bake the dough in an oven preheated to 350F for 25-30 minutes. The top should appear cracked and the dough should be somewhat firm to he touch when done. Allow to cool 30 minutes. 

Transfer each large biscotti to a cutting board and use a sharp serrated knife (like a bread knife to cut the biscotti into 1 inch wide pieces. 

Return each cookie to the baking sheet, cut side up.

The Second Bake

Return the cookie sheet to the oven and bake the sourdough biscotti for an additional 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Be careful not to touch the melted chocolate when you are flipping them or you might burn yourself (don’t ask me how I know).

The biscotti will feel quite firm and crisp when they are done but it’s okay if there are some that are slightly soft in the centers. They will crisp up more as they cool. You might also notice the edges are slightly golden brown, however, because of the dark color from the chocolate, this is a hard indicator to rely on. 

Allow the biscotti to fully cool on the baking sheet or on a wire rack before serving. 

Variations:

You can substitute 1 cup of add-ins to the dough if you want to break up the chocolate flavor. 

• Almonds,  pecans or walnuts
• White chocolate chips
• Freeze dried berries (strawberries or raspberries)

How to Serve Chocolate Sourdough Biscotti

Traditional biscotti is served with a warm beverage. The reason, besides the fact that it is a delicious pairing, is that biscotti are very crispy and typically too hard to just bite into. Biscotti are meant to be dipped in a warm drink like tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. This softens them and makes them easy to bite into an enjoy. 

How to Store Sourdough Biscotti

Biscotti have a longer shelf life compared to regular cookies because they have most of their moisture removed through the double baking process. That being said, they are best when consumed within 2 weeks for optimal freshness. 

How Do You Keep Biscotti Crisp?

To preserve their freshness, store them in an airtight container like a mason jar, plastic zip loc bag, or storage container away from moisture. 

Can You Freeze Biscotti?

You can freeze the dough ahead of time. Form the dough into a ball, give it a dust of flour, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer safe bag. Defrost the dough in the fridge the day before preparing them and proceed to bake as instructed. I recommend using the dough within 1 month of freezing it for best results. 

Should You Refrigerate Biscotti Dough Before Baking?

You do not need to refrigerate the dough before baking. It is fine to use the room temperature dough, although it will be slightly more sticky. If you don’t like working with sticky dough, wait until after you make the dough to preheat the oven. Allow the dough to chill in the fridge while the oven is preheating. 

If you want the biscotti to develop a more sour flavor, you can let it chill in the refrigerator overnight before baking. This process is similar to a cold ferment when making sourdough bread. 

I hope you enjoyed these twice-baked cookies. I have a feeling I will be adding more biscotti recipes here in the future (I already have this sourdough cranberry orange biscotti recipe with pecans here). In the meantime, I would love it if you checked out some of my other sourdough discard recipes: 

Brown Butter Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies

Super Fudgy Sourdough Discard Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookies Bars with Sourdough Discard