Espresso Chocolate Chip Biscotti Recipe

Last Updated on April 6, 2025 by becky

An espresso chocolate chip biscotti recipe with espresso powder, coffee extract, and chocolate chips. The best espresso biscotti for dunking in your morning cup of coffee.

Why Make This Biscotti Recipe?

Biscotti has always been one of my favorite Italian bakery treats. In New York, my go-to spot for biscotti (and tiramisu, and cannoli, and cheesecake, and…) is Veniero’s in the East Village. Whenever I’m downtown I try to stop by for an Italian pastry and a cappuccino.

For days when I don’t have time to make a trip to the bakery, it’s also fun to whip up a batch of biscotti at home, and this espresso chocolate chip biscotti recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I especially love dunking a few of these crunchy biscotti cookies in a cup of coffee. They also freeze well and thaw quickly, so they’re great when you need a make-ahead recipe, or an easy last-minute dessert.

Espresso Chocolate Chip Biscotti Ingredients

To make this espresso chocolate chip biscotti recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• All-Purpose Flour – Or plain flour, in the UK. For British bakers, I recommend McDougall’s in the red-and-white striped bag; the protein content most closely matches most American brands of all-purpose flour.
• Granulated Sugar – Granulated sugar adds sweetness and crunch.
• Espresso Powder – I tested this biscotti recipe with Medaglia D’oro espresso powder. I used 1 tablespoon (about 4 grams) but you can add a bit more if you enjoy a very pronounced coffee flavor. If you can’t find espresso powder, you can substitute finely ground instant coffee granules instead.
• Baking Powder – Along with eggs, baking powder gives the biscotti logs their lift.
• Ground Cinnamon – I like to add ground cinnamon to my biscotti. Feel free to omit if you aren’t a fan.

• Kosher Salt – Balances out the sweetness of the sugar and chocolate. I test my recipes with Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
• Unsalted Butter – Cold and cubed. You’ll use your hands to add the butter to the dry ingredients via the “rubbing in” method.
• Eggs – You’ll need 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, plus one additional egg white for brushing the biscotti log.
• Coffee Extract – My favorite coffee extracts are Trablit (a high-quality extract favored by many professional pastry chefs) and Nielsen-Massey. Choose a good-tasting extract—it will heavily influence the taste of your finished biscotti. For more on choosing a coffee extract, see my notes below.
• Vanilla Extract – Opt for a good-quality vanilla extract, or use vanilla bean paste.
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – You’ll need 165 grams, or about 1 cup, of semi sweet chocolate chips or miniature chocolate chips. You can also use chopped dark chocolate, or dark chocolate chips.
• Demerara Sugar – Demerara sugar (or Turbinado sugar, or Sugar in the Raw)  creates the crunchy topping.

Choosing a Coffee Extract

Trablit is a highly concentrated coffee extract made in France. It’s a nice addition to many recipes, from cookies to pastry cream to buttercream frosting. If you can’t find Trablit, you can opt for another coffee extract (Nielsen-Massey makes a great one) or you can use vanilla extract instead.

If you invest in a bottle of coffee extract, you’ll find plenty of things to do with it. For starters, try making a batch of my dark chocolate espresso cookies or my coffee whipped cream recipe.

Biscotti Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Choose your slice size. The total number of cookies produced will depend on the size of your slices. The wider the slices, the less cookies this recipe will make.

• Keep the butter cold. This biscotti recipe calls for cold, cubed butter, not softened or room temperature as in many baking recipes. To incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients, you’ll use the “rubbing in” method, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like— rubbing the butter and flour between your fingertips, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
• Dunk in dark chocolate. For an extra-fancy finished product, try dipping half of each biscotti slice in dark chocolate! I think Valrhona Guanaja 70% would work especially well.
• Flour your work surface. Before rolling, flour your countertop to prevent the dough from sticking.

Special Tools for Making Biscotti

Although this biscotti recipe doesn’t require much special equipment, it will be helpful to have the following tools at the ready:

• Bench Scraper – You’ll want to have a bench scraper on hand when making this biscotti recipe. A simple plastic bench scraper (the kind you’d use for breadmaking) will help with mixing the dough, as well as with portioning it into logs.
• Pastry Brush – You’ll need a natural-bristled pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the tops of the logs.

• Serrated Knife – Use a serrated knife (bread knife, the kind with a saw-toothed edge) and a gentle sawing motion to cut the partially-baked logs into individual biscotti slices. Do not use a chef’s knife.
• Metal Ruler – For measuring the logs and evenly portioning the biscotti slices.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

These espresso biscotti cookies are best-served within 1-2 days of baking.

Store leftover biscotti in an airtight container, layered between sheets of parchment, for up to three days. Leftover biscotti can also be frozen, and will thaw very quickly at room temperature.

Other biscotti recipes you might enjoy:

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti
Rainbow Biscotti
White Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t for get to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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