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Chickpea flour biscotti thins with cranberries and almonds are a perfect coffee- or tea-time treat! They are vegan, grain-free, can be made oil-free, and have only 44 calories each.
Grain-Free & Vegan Biscotti Thins
These crispy, crunchy biscotti thins are my new favorite snack. And dessert. And breakfast on the run. They are based on a cookie that I have purchased on multiple occasions–almondina. As much as I like them, I cringe at the price, often more than six or seven dollars for a miniscule package filled with no more than a dozen or so cookies.
So I made my own version.
This version strays from the original in that I used chickpea flour in place of all purpose flour and eggs. It works like a charm! The resulting cookies have lots of nutrition plus great flavor and crunch, all at a fraction of the price of the packaged version (cheap-o me). Love!
Recipe Benefits
- Vegan (dairy-free, egg-free)
- Gluten-free
- Grain-free
- Oil-free option
- Easy to make and bake
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
- chickpea flour
- coconut sugar (or granulated sugar of choice)
- baking powder
- ground cardamom or cinnamon (optional)
- salt
- nondairy milk
- vegetable oil (see notes for OIL-FREE option)
- almond extract
- whole almonds, coarsely chopped
- dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
Step by Step Directions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
- Preheat oven to 300F (150C). Grease or spray a 9×5-inch (22.5×12.5 cm) loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
- Add the milk, oil and almond extract, stirring until blended and smooth. Stir in the almonds and cranberries.
- Spoon and spread dough into prepared pan.Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely in pan.
- Preheat oven to 180F (90C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove cooled loaf to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut loaf crosswise into thin slices (just under 1/4-inch in thickness).
- Arrange slices on and ungreased baking sheetBake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Turn off oven and let cookies remain in oven for an additional hour. Cool completely.
Chickpea flour browns more quickly than wheat flour, so this initial bake is at 300F, which allows the initial cookie “loaf” to become quite firm without overbrowning.
Chop Added Dried Fruits or Nuts
I like to give the nuts and dried fruit a rough chop before adding to the dough because it makes the slicing, in phase 2, so much easier.
The advantage of chopping fruits and nuts applies to all biscotti, but especially so with these thin slices (which are slightly less than 1/4-inch in thickness). The knife is less likely to catch on big pieces and leave you with a pile of crumbs. Additionally, a rough chop ensures plenty of crunchy and fruity bits in every slice and bite!
Be sure to let the cookie loaf cool entirely before attempting to slice it. It slices easily with a serrated knife once completely cooled, but (trust me, I was impatient with an earlier batch) it will crumble if you rush things and attempt slicing while still warm-ish. I managed to restrain myself from eating more than a cup of crumbles (even mistakes can double as a delicious reward :)).
FAQ and Tips
- How should I store the chickpea flour biscotti thins? Store the cookies in an airtight container or tin at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.
- How can I make the biscotti thins oil-free? Replace the oil with 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of drippy nut butter or seed butter (e.g., almond butter, peanut butter, tahini, or sunflower seed butter)
- Loaf pan tip: If your loaf pan is dark metal, I recommend lining it with parchment paper to prevent the cookies from over-browning at the edges during the first bake.
- For the fewest crumbles, chill the baked loaf: If you have the time, consider wrapping and chilling the baked loaf for an hour, or up to a day, before the second bake. A chilled loaf is so much easer to slice, and will produce the fewest crumbles, too.
- Keep the oven on low heat for the 2nd bake: The goal of the second bake is to thoroughly dry out the cookies, so that they will become and remain crisp, without turning to ashes on the baking sheet. Setting the oven to 175F, and baking for an hour, works perfectly. After the hour of baking, turn off the heat and let the cookies remain in the oven for another hour to dry further.
The results are crunchy, lightly sweet and ideal for noshing and nourishing anytime, anywhere.
Happy baking, everyone!
Related Posts:
- Almond Coconut Flour Biscotti {vegan, grain-free}
- 4-Ingredient Vegan Almond Flour Biscotti {Keto Option}
- Vegan Pumpkin Almond Flour Biscotti {keto option}
- Healthy 2-Ingredient Coconut Biscotti {Vegan, Keto Option}
- Strawberry Almond Flour Crumble {Vegan, Keto Option}
Chickpea Flour Biscotti Thins (Vegan, Grain-Free)
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups chickpea flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar, (or granulated sugar of choice)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, (certified GF, as needed)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nondairy milk, (e.g., almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, (see notes for OIL-FREE option)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F (150C). Grease or spray a 9×5-inch (22.5×12.5 cm) loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
- Add the milk, oil and almond extract, stirring until blended and smooth. Stir in the almonds and cranberries. Spoon and spread dough into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely in pan.
- Preheat oven to 180F (90C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove cooled loaf to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut loaf crosswise into thin slices (just under 1/4-inch in thickness). Arrange slices on prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let cookies remain in oven for an additional hour. Cool completely.
This was so easy to make and a good way to use up chickpea flour. I refrigerated the loaf overnight and it did not crumble when I sliced it. The biscotti turned out crunchy but not tooth-breaking. So happy to have found a vegan gluten free biscotti recipe that holds together well and is healthy!
I’m so glad you gave this a try, Emilye, and better still, that they were a success! As someone who has made these a ridiculous number of times, it is lots of delicious fun to change the flavors in countless ways and permutations (e.g., spices, extracts, zest, nuts, seeds, chocolate) depending on your cookie mood. Enjoy!
Hi Camilla, how many ml of a 1/2 of milk? And can I use the same amount of water instead? Thank you.
Hi Janice,
1/2 cup is 118 mL. Cheers.
Two of your biscotti recipes I’ve seen so far call for oils. Is there any substitute? Thanks!
Hi Deb,
This one has an oil-free option listed in the notes. You can use a drippy nut butter or seed butter in place of the oil. You can try that with other biscotti recipes, too. Cheers.
Came out really nice, good crunch but not too hard (no broken teeth!) Thanks for this, I can no longer eat regular flour but have missed Italian cookies that I grew up eating.
Thank you for your response. I sorry to disagree. The ads to show and cover the recipe.
Regards,
AJ
AJ,
Did you actually print? I printed 6 recipes to test, no ads printed.
Just a quick note – your printer friendly option includes add noted by another reader. Would you please correct. The add overlays the recipe and cannot be read.
Thank you
Hi AJ,
The ad may show in the print preview, but it does not print. Cheers.
Hi Camilla
Thank you for a wonderful and addictive recipe, the chickpea flour biscotti did not last very long 😀.
I like your recipes, but it is so annoying and wasteful to have the ingredient amounts in your printer friendly option be covered with advertising for Pinterest instagram facebook Twitter and other ways to advertise. This not printer friendly and now I have a recipe page that is useless and I wasted ink and paper getting nothing. Please fix this and fellow recipe makers – beware!
Patti
Hi Patti,
I am sorry that is happening with your printer.
I checked with 10 different recipes and did not have the problem you are experiencing. When you click print recipe on the recipe card, it shows the layout with an ad and the social media buttons from my site, but those do no print. Even when you click print from there to get the print preview, there are no ads or social media buttons. I tried this on my husband’s and my son’s printers as well.
Wow just wow!! I have made 3 of your recipes in less than 24hrs. This one, this almond flour biscotti and the Graham crackers. They are all fabulous!! I found your chickpea sandwich bread 3 weeks ago and that was excellent as well!! For this one I did dates, and almonds with pumpkin pie spice (1/2 tsp) they are so yummy. I love that this and the AF biscotti are great before you even double bake, just like a cookie bar!! I have a running list …. nope basically your whole recipe list… of what I want to make. THANK YOU!!!
Thank YOU, Dorothy!!!
Hi Camilla,
I have just read that Besan flour is different to Garbanzo flour,
Can you please let me know will it make a difference to your recipe which I use.
Thank you
Hi Mary,
I have seen a popular site that asserts that, but it is not accurate. Besan and garbanzo bean flour are interchangeable, measure for measure (I have bags of besan and chickpea/garbanzo bean flour in my pantry as I type; I use them both). The weights are the same for both (1/4 cup is 30 g). Both are flours made from chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), hence both are “chickpea flour.” The one difference between the two is the type of chickpeas used to make the flour, which is largely determined by region. The two types of chickpeas are desi and kabuli. Desi (smaller, and can be black, dark brown, green, speckled, and more) are cultivated mostly in the Indian subcontinent, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Iran, hence the Indian chickpea flour labeled besan is typically made from desi chickpeas. Kabuli chickpeas (large, lighter in color) are the most common chickpea variety grown in North America and the Mediterranean, hence garbanzo flour/chickpea flour produced in these regions is typically from kabuli chickpeas. I have literally made all of my recipes with both chickpea flour and besan with equal success. Hope this helps clarify!
Oh my goodness. You are a genius. These are amazing!I love love love biscotti and these did not disappoint. I made them with macadamia nuts and dried cherries and I can assure you they won’t be lasting very long.!!! It’s a great template recipe so I’m sure I’ll be experimenting with other flavors too. I see a chocolate one in the near future…. Thanks so much for making my belly so happy 🙂
I cannot begin to tell you how much your sweet and generous comment made my day, Sarah. So happy to know you are a fellow biscotti lover!
Hi could you use coconut flour instead of chick pea flour
Hi Marina,
Alas, no–coconut flour is so persnickety, it cannot be used as a straight substitute for any other flour. But the GOOD news is that I am going :)to post a recipe for a coconut flour biscotti later this week! Promise! 🙂