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A lightly sweetened twice-baked cookie with lemon zest and poppy seed, you’ll love this lemon poppy biscotti recipe! Drizzle the lemon biscotti with white chocolate for a touch of sweetness.
It feels a bit odd to be posting a recipe that requires a warm oven when the average temperature lately is 27 C – BUT – these are so light and summery that they felt like the perfect July recipe. Also, I owe Etienne biscotti from a very loose “deal” that we made about a month ago, and if I wait until cooler weather I’ll never be able to fulfill my part of the bargain. Neither of us can remember what he did for me in exchange for said biscotti, but it was probably a gross job that I didn’t want to do. I like those kinds of deals.
Anyway, we had a long weekend for Canada Day (hooray!) so I spent the holiday Monday baking these delightful lemon biscotti. I made some strawberries dipped in white chocolate for some Saturday night festivities, and had some white chocolate leftover, so these biscotti were the perfect solution. I. Do. Not. Waste. Chocolate. 🙂
Biscotti are one of my favorite things to have around the house!! I actually can’t believe I’ve only posted one other biscotti recipe on the blog since I’ve started. There is just something so pleasing about dipping a biscotti into your morning coffee or afternoon tea. Plus, they keep forever and make a delightful gift for someone. Three cheers for the twice-baked cookie!!
What goes into a lemon poppy biscotti recipe?
These particular cookies are lightly sweetened, and have a fairly strong lemon flavor. I use the zest and juice of one whole lemon in this recipe! Adding poppy seeds to lemon is just a no-brainer. Every time I bake with poppy seed I think of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine keeps testing positive for opiates, before finally realizing it was from her poppy seed muffins. I’m not sure how realistic this really is, but that show was seriously the best.
A very important step in making these biscotti is to massage the lemon zest and poppy seeds into the sugar, to release the lemon flavor and ensure everything is thoroughly combined.
The dough is made of all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. It’s quite dry and flaky, so continue kneading it until all of the loose clumps of flour are combined. Separate the biscotti dough into 2, and shape into long logs that are about 9″ long and around 2 1/2″ wide.
What does “twice-baked cookie” mean?
The “twice baked” cookie part of biscotti means you’ll need to first bake the logs, then cool, then cut, then bake again. It’s really not a lot of work, but it does take some time.
The white chocolate drizzle is added at the very end, once the lemon biscotti is totally cool. Melting white chocolate in the microwave can be a bit tricky, so you’ll want to make sure you add about 1 tbsp of coconut oil and only heat the chocolate in 30 second increments.
You may notice that my drizzle is very slightly pink-tinged. This was for the chocolate covered strawberries! I thought about eating the extra pink drizzle so I could make brand new white drizzle for the biscotti, but I thought I’d forego the stomach ache.
How long do lemon poppy seed biscotti keep?
These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks! They also freeze very well, but I’d be surprised if you managed to keep them that long.
Pick a summer day that you feel like firing up the oven, and try your hand at biscotti. You may just find yourself a new addiction 😉
A few other biscotti and lemon cookie recipes you might like:
- lemon cream cheese cookies
- double chocolate peppermint biscotti
- almond-vanilla biscotti
Lemon Poppy Seed Biscotti
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 22-24 biscotti 1x
Description
A lightly sweetened twice-baked cookie with lemon zest and poppy seed, you’ll love this lemon poppy biscotti recipe! Drizzle the lemon biscotti with white chocolate for a touch of sweetness.Â
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 lemon (zest + juice)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 4 oz white chocolate, chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the lemon zest, sugar and poppy seeds. Massage the ingredients together with your fingers until thoroughly combined. Add the egg, vanilla extract and lemon juice and whisk until combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, and stir together until a soft dough forms. The dough will be dry and flaky, so use your hands to knead the mixture until there are no loose flakes.
- Separate the dough into two balls, and on a floured surface, flatten each ball into a long log about 9″ long and 2 1/2″ wide. Place the logs onto the prepared baking sheet, a few inches apart, and bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and allow the logs to cool 10 minutes until transferring them to a cutting board and cutting them on the diagonal, into 1/2″ pieces. The sharper the angle that you hold your knife, the longer your biscotti will be.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F. Place the cut biscotti on its side onto the baking sheet, and bake for another 15 minutes. Allow the biscotti to cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Combine the coconut oil and white chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl (alternatively, use a double boiler) and melt the chocolate at high heat in 30 second increments, until smooth.
- Transfer the chocolate to a Ziploc bag and cut the tip of the bag off, drizzling the chocolate all over the biscotti. Allow the chocolate to harden before storing.
Biscotti will keep at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: cookies
- Method: oven bake
- Cuisine: american
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These are magical! I love anything lemon and poppy seed and these would be perfect with AM coffee. Take care.
Thank you Stacey!! I love lemon and poppy seed too. Such a perfect marriage 🙂
These look so tasty! I wish I had this lemon biscotti with my morning coffee. I love that they will keep for 3 weeks too; not that it would last that long in my household!
They definitely wouldn’t last 3 weeks!! They’re the best with coffee in the morning. Thank you Marie!!
Biscotti holds a very special place in my heart! I’ve been enjoying it since I was a kid sitting at my grandparents’ kitchen table. I love this flavor combination! Pinned!!
That is so adorable Annie. My husband grew up eating it too! Thank you so much 🙂