I want orange cranberry-flavored everything when the holidays arrive. These vegan orange cranberry biscotti are super cute and absolutely loaded up with dried cranberries. Fans of my cranberry clementine muffins (also with white chocolate) will definitely dig these. Like a lot of my bakes, I use a bit of whole grain flour to give the cookie a heartier and more nutty flavor.
Biscotti cookies are twice baked! It’s fun to shape up the log, bake it, slice up the log, and then bake the slices. The dough here comes together simply. You just need to whisk the wet ingredients and fold in the dry ones. No mixer required!
When you’re portioning the log after the first bake, the slices will appear under-baked and raw in the middle. They kind of are at that point! You’ll arrange the slices upright on the baking sheet (for maximum airflow) and bake again. After this, they’re perfect. A little chewy in the middle and crisp.
I like the flavor that vegan butter lends to this orange cranberry biscotti recipe. It’s rich and makes the dough nice and soft. I did test versions with olive oil (4.5 tablespoons to account for the water volume in butter) and they were decent! I found that the edges were a bit more dried out and it really emphasized the wholesome whole wheat flour flavor. Folks often ask if they can substitute oil for vegan butter, so I always aim to try it out when possible.
The white chocolate really takes these into WOW territory! It’s a similar finishing touch to my vegan ginger molasses softies, another holiday fave. Hope you love these!
Vegan Orange Cranberry Biscotti with White Chocolate
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup (142 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (from 1 medium orange)
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) vegan butter, melted and cooled
- 5 tablespoons (74 mL) unsweetened soy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (113 grams) whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (114 grams) dried cranberries
- ½ cup (85 grams) vegan white chocolate chips
Notes
- Pascha, Enjoy Life, and Healthy Crunch brands all make vegan white chocolate chips.
Instructions
First Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar and orange zest. Work the orange zest into the brown sugar with your fingers. It should be very fragrant.
- To the brown sugar, add the melted vegan butter, soy milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Then, add the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix with a spatula until almost totally combined. Add the dried cranberries and fold them in, totally combining the dough.
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and press it out into an even log. The final dimensions should be about 14 inches long and 3 inches wide. Once you have it shaped, pop it in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the bottom part of the giant cookie is starting to brown. Let it cool a bit.
Second Bake
- Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Carefully transfer the big cookie to a cutting board and slice into 1 ½ inch slices. They will seem too wet/uncooked in the middle! Place the slices upright on the baking sheet. Carefully transfer sliced biscotti to the oven and bake for another 25 minutes or until they’ve dried out a bit. Let them cool completely.
- Place the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave in 15 second increments. It usually takes 45 seconds for me. Drizzle the cooled biscotti with the white chocolate. Pop the biscotti in the fridge for 5 minutes so that the white chocolate can set. Enjoy!
Hi Laura, this biscotti recipe is incredibly delicious and so easy to make, thanks for creating this. I made mine with the olive oil and they were perfect. Please make more recipes with olive oil instead of vegan butter or coconut oil. Will be on repeat in my house.
SO good! Easy to follow, clear instructions. Love the vanilla here! I just used all AP flour for a nice light colour. Will be making these again!
Just made these and my husband said they’re one of the best cookies he’s ever had!! Thanks again for another stellar recipe!!
Hi. Can these be made gluten free? Thank you
Laurel,
I haven’t attempted a gluten-free version of this recipe, so can’t offer detailed guidance unfortunately. An all-purpose gluten-free flour mixture with xanthan gum may be an appropriate substitute for the all purpose and whole wheat flours, but again I haven’t worked this out in my kitchen so can’t say for sure. I would recommend looking for a biscotti recipe on a dedicated gluten-free baking blog, and adapting the flavor profile from there with orange zest and dried cranberries.
-L
Delicious! My white chocolate globbed more than drizzled but the cookie base is yum! Thanks for another great recipe! Appreciate them so much!
Thanks for this comment and review Kortneii!
-L
Hi! Two questions: Is soy milk necessary, or could I use oat? And how long after baking would you say these are usually good for? Contemplating pre-making them on the weekend for a midweek cookie exchange. Thank you for your great recipes!
Hi Allison,
They keep well in a sealed container for about a week. And I think oat milk will function fine here. Soy milk is my go-to for baking because of the richness and protein content. This is not a super technical cookie, so the oat sub should be fine :)
-L
Holy moly are these ever TERRIFIC! I’m not vegan and don’t usually like the offerings. I’ve made these for a vegan friend and I will absolutely be making these for myself as well. Flavorful, crunchy and as far as I’m concerned better than store bought. Be sure to try these. Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
What brand of vegan white chocolate chips do you use, and where do you buy them?
Where I live in Ontario, I can find The Healthy Crunch Co’s vegan white chocolate chips in the health food section of Loblaws stores and at health food stores in general.
-L
Can fresh cranberries be used instead of dried?
They are too wet for this recipe unfortunately!
-L