Savor the flavors of fall with crunchy Apple Cinnamon Biscotti. Fill your kitchen (and your cookie jar and care packages) with the smells of baking apple and cinnamon and embrace the deliciousness of autumn.
Why you'll love this recipe
Biscotti are generally ideal care package cookies. The usually dry, crunchy texture which makes biscotti the ultimate dipping cookie, promotes a long shelf life. Plus, there are so many delicious recipes for different flavors of biscotti.
However, when moisture is added with jams or fruits, that type of biscotti don’t stay fresh for much longer than a week. In order to give Apple Cinnamon Biscotti lots of apple flavor without actually adding fresh apples, I used apple juice concentrate as the liquid in this recipe which provides lots of natural flavor without changing the crunch.
Because I was gifting the Apple Cinnamon Biscotti, I wanted them to be eye catching. First, the biscotti are iced with luscious apple cinnamon icing that dries firm for storing and shipping ease.
Then, I combined a variety of sprinkles to make my own “Autumn Mix”. Any sprinkles in fall colors will work. I used a combination of fall leaves and two sizes of nonpareils in gold, browns, and red. Sprinkles make Apple Cinnamon Biscotti a celebration cookie.
Biscotti ingredients
Icing ingredients
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar, then mix in the eggs and apple juice concentrate followed by the dry ingredients mixture, scraping bowl between additions.
- Divide dough in half and form two dough logs. Place logs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- For the first bake, bake in a preheated oven until light golden brown, cool for about 10 minutes, then using a serrated knife, cut the logs at an angle into ¾” slices. Place slices on the baking sheet, slightly separated.
- Return slices to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until firm.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar, apple juice concentrate, and cinnamon until smooth and spreadable. Add more confectioners’ sugar if the icing is too runny or more juice concentrate if the glaze is too thick.
- Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread the icing on just a couple of biscotti at a time.
- Add sprinkles immediately before the icing begins to firm.
- Place iced biscotti on a wax paper lined baking tray to allow the icing to firm completely for about 2 hours at room temperature.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature, with wax paper between layers, for at least two weeks.
Tips
- This recipe uses defrosted frozen apple juice concentrate. Homemade concentrate can be created by cooking down apple juice or cider until it is reduced in half. For this recipe 1 ¼ cups of juice would be reduced to ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of concentrate.
- This dough can be sticky. To make handling and shaping easier, moisten your hands and rubber spatula when forming the dough log so that the surface is smooth and the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers.
- Keep in mind that all biscotti continue to firm up after removing them from the oven. Don’t overcook the biscotti because they aren’t completely crisp in the allotted time.
More Rosh Hashana recipes
You will love these soft and chewy Apple Butter Cookies with creamy honey icing.
Apples and Honey Chocolate Bars are homemade chocolate with crunchy bits of honey comb candy and dried apples. An amazing combination!
Apple Oatmeal Cutout Cookies have apple flavor and an apple shape. The icing is easily painted with food coloring, giving the cookies a watercolor look. Beautiful!
Pomegranate Caramels are fruity, chewy caramels that make delicious gifts and treats.
Honey Lollipops can be made free form or poured into molds to make any shape you want. Enjoy them as honey candy or stir them into a hot mug of tea!
Use these Rosh Hashanah gift ideas to create a "Rosh Hashanah in a box" care package that is fun to send and to receive.
My experience with this recipe
A tradition on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is to dip apples in honey to represent our hopes for a sweet New Year. When I think of fall baking, the flavors of apple and honey are inseparable in my head.
So, when I made Honey Cake Biscotti for Rosh Hashanah nibbling and gifting, I needed something apple flavored to share along with them. Apple cinnamon cookies along with the Honey Cake Biscotti, brought extra crunch to our holiday flavor tradition.
For more Jewish holiday recipes, don't miss my family's favorite Hamantaschen Recipe and fun hamantaschen slice-and bake Triangle Cookies!
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Apple Cinnamon Biscotti
Ingredients
Biscotti dough
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon apple juice concentrate , melted frozen apple juice concentrate
Apple Cinnamon Icing
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup apple juice concentrate melted frozen apple juice concentrate, slightly more if needed
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Sprinkles fall leaves combined with fall color nonpareils
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Mix in the eggs and apple juice concentrate.
- Gradually, mix in the flour mixture until combined.
- Divide the dough in half and place each half on the prepared baking sheet 3 inches apart.
- Form the dough into two logs approximately 11 inches long and 3 inches wide. If the dough is sticky, moisten hands to form the logs. A moistened spatula can also be used to form the dough logs.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.
- Cut the logs at an angle into ¾” slices.
- Stand the slices on the cookie sheet, slightly separated, and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes, until firm. Biscotti will continue to firm as they cool.
- Remove from oven and transfer biscotti to a wire rack until completely cool.
To prepare icing:
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar, apple juice concentrate, and cinnamon until smooth and spreadable. Add more confectioners’ sugar if the icing is too runny or more juice concentrate if the glaze is too thick.
- Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread the icing on one biscotti at a time and immediately add sprinkles.
- Place on a sheet of wax paper to allow the icing to firm for about 2 hours.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature, with wax paper between layers, for at least two weeks.
Notes
- This recipe uses defrosted frozen apple juice concentrate. Homemade concentrate can be created by cooking down apple juice or cider until it is reduced in half. For this recipe 1 ¼ cups of juice would be reduced to ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of concentrate.
- This dough can be sticky. To make handling and shaping easier, moisten your hands and rubber spatula when forming the dough log so that the surface is smooth and the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers.
- Keep in mind that all biscotti continue to firm up after removing them from the oven. Don’t overcook the biscotti because they aren’t completely crisp in the allotted time.
- Cinnamon sugar is a quick and easy substitute of icing. Sprinkle the dough logs with cinnamon sugar before baking.
Nutrition
First Published: September 11, 2018. Last Updated: October 14, 2021. Updated for additional information, improved photographs, and better reader experience.
Saltandserenity
These are everything my husband loves in one bite. Great idea to use apple juice concentrate! I wondered how you could get the apple flavour and still get them crunchy. The icing is perfect and those sprinkles!! Can’t wait to try these.