Is there anything better than having cookies for breakfast?? These white chocolate pumpkin biscotti are super easy to make and perfect for enjoying on chilly fall mornings with a homemade pumpkin spice latte!
You can also decorate them like little mummies and ghosts for Halloween boo-scotti!
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What is Biscotti?
Biscotti is a long cookie that is twice-baked to make them super crisp and crunchy!
Biscotti is also the all-encompassing term for "cookies" or "biscuits" in Italian. The more specific name for this style of cookie is cantucci or cantuccini, but outside of Italy they are commonly just called biscotti.
They might seem a little complicated but they're actually super easy to make! We simply shape the dough into logs and bake it. Then let the logs cool slightly, slice them, and then bake the slices a second time! Super easy!
You might also like this almond biscotti or this peanut butter biscotti!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these pumpkin spice biscotti!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. Best of all, brown butter pairs beautifully with the pumpkin. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Pumpkin Puree - I almost exclusively use Libby's Pumpkin because it really is the best of the best! A ton of people have run blind taste tests comparing different brands of pumpkin puree, and Libby's is always the winner!
Pumpkin Pie Spice - You can buy pumpkin pie spice at most grocery stores, or just make your own!
Pecans - These are optional, but I love mixing some toasted pecans into the batter for extra crunch!
White Chocolate - You can use white chocolate baking bars or white chocolate chips to melt to dip the biscotti in.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Biscotti
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat together the softened brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Then beat in the pumpkin puree.
Add in the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and salt and mix until fully incorporated.
Then stir in the chopped pecans if desired. The dough should be sticky.
Scoop half the dough onto one side of baking sheet and pat it into a 10 inch x 2 inch rectangle that’s about 1 inch thick (lightly wetting your hands helps a lot with this step). Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Place the baking sheet with the shaped biscotti logs in the fridge and chill for about 20 minutes (this helps them not spread too much).
While the biscotti logs are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the top and edges are set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 25 to 30 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board and use a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water to very lightly spritz them (just one spray on each section of the logs). Wait about 5 minutes before using a very sharp serrated knife to slice biscotti ½ inch wide.
Return the pumpkin biscotti slices to the baking sheet, standing them up with ½ inch in between them, so air can circulate around them. Bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until dry and golden.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Dip the pumpkin biscotti in the melted white chocolate (or drizzle) and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Let the chocolate fully harden before storing.
Serve the white chocolate pumpkin biscotti with your favorite chai or pumpkin spice latte!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
How to Make BOO-scotti!
These pumpkin biscotti are super easy to turn into a kid-friendly spooky treat for Halloween! You can dip the biscotti in white chocolate to make little biscotti ghosts, or drizzle them with white chocolate to make biscotti mummies!
These are optional, but I love adding little candy eye balls to the tops of the boo-scotti! Instead of candy eyes, you could also use mini chocolate chips!
Be sure to check out the rest of our adorable Halloween treats like these mummy macarons or ghost cupcakes!
Recipe FAQ's
You can eat this pumpkin biscotti like a regular cookie, but since biscotti is so crunchy, it's typically dipped into coffee, milk, or even wine before eating.
Store the pumpkin biscotti in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Yes! I recommend freezing the biscotti after the first bake. After the biscotti are sliced, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To finish baking, let thaw and then bake for about 25 minutes as normal. Then finish by dunking in the white chocolate!
Biscotti is hard and dry because it is baked twice! First as a loaf and then again after being sliced. This hard, dry texture is what makes this pumpkin pecan biscotti perfect for dunking in coffee and gives it a long shelf life!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Pumpkin Biscotti
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Biscotti
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans, optional
Topping
- 4 ounces white chocolate, melted
- chopped pecans
- candy eyes, optional
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat together the softened brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Then beat in the pumpkin puree.
- Add in the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and salt and mix until fully incorporated.
- Then stir in the chopped pecans if desired. The dough should be sticky.
- Scoop half the dough onto one side of baking sheet and pat it into a 10 inch x 2 inch rectangle that’s about 1 inch thick (lightly wetting your hands helps a lot with this step). Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Place the baking sheet with the shaped biscotti logs in the fridge and chill for about 20 minutes (this helps them not spread too much).
- While the biscotti logs are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the top and edges are set. Remove from the oven and let cool for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Carefully transfer the logs to a cutting board and use a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water to very lightly spritz them (just one spray on each section of the logs). Wait about 5 minutes before using a very sharp serrated knife to slice biscotti ½ inch wide.
- Return the pumpkin biscotti slices to the baking sheet, standing them up with ½ inch in between them, so air can circulate around them. Bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until dry and golden.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
- Dip the pumpkin biscotti in the melted white chocolate (or drizzle) and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
- Let the chocolate fully harden before storing.
- Serve the white chocolate pumpkin biscotti with your favorite pumpkin spice latte!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ally says
I’m confused on the brown butter part. It’s not that I burned it, I let
It set to room temperature however, I noticed your looks different. Yours is more of a solid consistency while mine is a liquid. I looked online and it shows the brown butter being refrigerated to obtain that consistency, but again your recipe says room temperature brown butter. So, I am confused on how you got that consistency and if the it matters. Clarity would be appreciated. 🙂
Kyleigh Sage says
I usually make my brown butter a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate it, then let it come up to room temp in the morning like you would do with a regular stick of butter! But when it's still liquid you can pop it in the fridge for about 20 minutes to get it to solidify slightly (you just want it to be be soft and pliable so that it will mix together with the sugar well). Biscotti is pretty flexible, so you can also just use the brown butter while it's still a little bit liquid (just not hot) and just make sure to chill the biscotti logs for at least 30 minutes before baking so that it can solidify otherwise it will spread too much.
Ally says
Thanks for the help on the brown butter. I have another question about the dough. Is it possible to make the dough a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate it? Then, when I'm ready to make biscotti, I can take the dough out and shape it. Would this work, or would it ruin the dough? 🙂
Kyleigh Sage says
Yeah it will be fine for a couple days in the fridge! It will probably get super stiff and hard to work with, so when you're ready to bake you might want to let it sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes so it'll be easier to shape! After it's baked the biscotti lasts for up to 2 weeks (especially before you decorate it) so you can also just get it completely baked and then wait a few days to decorate it if you're going to.
Jackie menardy says
Hi Kyleigh, you mention weighing your flour but you done leave the grams or ounces it should be.
Can you please be more specific.
Thank you in advance
Kyleigh Sage says
In the recipe card at the top of the ingredients list, there is a toggle button where you can switch between US Customary measurements and metric weight measurements! While I prefer weighing my ingredients the US Customary is the default because that's what most of my audience uses. Sorry if that caused any confusion!