Julie Clark
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Cardamom Lemon Biscotti with Glaze
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Crunchy cardamom and lemon biscotti drizzled with a lemon sugar glaze, perfect for snacking with coffee or tea!
Biscotti are one of my favorite cookies! I like to make them crunchy, but not overly crunchy so you break a tooth! I usually do eat them with a cup of coffee or tea since they are fun to dunk, but it is not necessary to enjoy them.
Why lemon biscotti? So that the cookies would be perfect for spring celebrations like Mother’s Day. The bright lemon flavor, and background hints of cardamom make these biscotti really stand out. If you are not familiar with cardamom, it is a lovely spice with floral overtones, which makes it a great partner for anything citrus. I even made an orange and cardamom cake for my birthday last year!
However, don’t worry if you don’t have any cardamom, pure lemon biscotti will still taste amazing!
If you are going to bring these cardamom lemon biscotti to a party, the good news is that they can be made a few days in advance. Once the lemon glaze has hardened completely, and this could take several hours, place the biscotti in a covered container. They can also be stacked at this point. If it is hot and humid where you are, I would recommend not glazing the biscotti until the day of serving. You can put them in the refrigerator just long enough to harden the glaze, and it should stay firm enough for serving.
I baked these in a biscotti pan, but it is possible to make them without one! My grandmother only had a cookie sheet, and she would simply shape the biscotti dough into a 12×5 log and bake. The dough will spread a little bit, creating those traditional angled biscotti ends. Biscotti means twice baked, so after the first baking with the dough as one solid piece, the biscotti is sliced and then baked again. This technique gives the biscotti their crunch.
Fun fact, did you know the singular of biscotti is biscotto? Although I could never have just a single biscotto 🙂
Enjoy!
Lemon Biscotti
Crunchy cardamom and lemon biscotti drizzled with a lemon sugar glaze, perfect for snacking with coffee or tea!
Servings 20 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
For the Biscotti
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 11.25 Ounces
- 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- Zest of ½ of a Lemon
- 5 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter Softened
- 3/4 Cup Sugar 5 Ounces
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract
For the Glaze
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar Confectioners
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- Additional Zest for Topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a biscotti pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom and lemon zest. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter and sugar. Cream together until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing in completely and scraping down the side of the bowl between each one. The batter may looked curdled at this point. Stir in the lemon extract.
- Gently stir the flour mix into the butter mixture. Stir only until the flour is completely absorbed. The batter will be thick.
- Spread the batter into a biscotti pan, or shape into a 12x5 log on the cookie sheet. Bake for 35-45 minutes. The cookie sheet loaf will likely be done closer to the beginning of the time frame, while the biscotti pan should take the entire time. The dough will be light brown and firm to the touch. Remove the biscotti loaf from the pan and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
- Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees.
- When the dough is cool enough to handle but not completely cool it is easier to slice. Slice the biscotti loaf into approximately ½ inch biscotti. It should yield approximately 17-20 biscotti.
- Place the biscotti onto a cookie sheet, evenly spaced, laying on their sides. Bake for 25 -30 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. For more even browning, you can flip the biscotti halfway through the cooking time.
- Allow biscotti to cool completely before glazing.
For the Glaze
- In a small bowl, stir the lemon juice into the powdered sugar. It may take a minute for the powdered sugar to absorb all the lemon juice. Stir until all the lumps are out and the glaze is smooth. Transfer the glaze to a ziploc bag, and seal the bag. Cut a tiny triangle off one bottom corner of the bag. Glaze the biscotti in a zig-zag pattern. Do not put the glaze on too thick or it will not harden properly. Sprinkle additional zest on if desired while glaze is still wet.
- Allow the glaze to completely harden, this will take several hours. After the glaze has hardened, transfer the biscotti to a covered container. These will keep for several days.
Notes
This can also be made with a hand mixer, it will take longer to cream the butter and sugar. Also the batter is so thick, it may be easier to stir the flour in with a spoon.
*The lemon glaze is tart, you can substitute up to 1 tablespoon of milk for the lemon juice if desired.
*I often cook my biscotti standing up, so they brown evenly without flipping.
*The cardamom is optional.
*The lemon glaze is tart, you can substitute up to 1 tablespoon of milk for the lemon juice if desired.
*I often cook my biscotti standing up, so they brown evenly without flipping.
*The cardamom is optional.
Nutrition
Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 31mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 0.9mg
Note to self: A bit too much cardamom; sifted flour; added approx 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa; used 5/8 c org. light brown sugar and 1/8 c maple sugar; extracts: 1 tsp total – mostly lemon, a bit of almond, a bit of vanilla; drizzle w/ melted dark chocolate; topped w/ ground nuts.
Hey, I’m just wondering why the mixture would look curdled in step 3 after only adding sugar, butter, and eggs. I’m in the middle of making the biscotti.
How do you cook biscotti standing up?
Sounds so good! I found that, once I used cardamom in a recipe, I was never without it in my pantry!