Can You Freeze Biscotti? – The Best Way

Biscotti are delicious Italian cookies that are easy to make and fun to eat dipped into some hot or iced latte and cappuccino. While these crunchy twice-baked cookies have a long shelf life, you may have made more than you can eat within a few weeks. 

So, can you freeze biscotti? Yes, you can freeze biscotti. These cookies will keep for up to 3 months in the cold storage if you store them correctly in an airtight container. You can also freeze half-baked biscotti and biscotti dough if you want to shorten the baking and preparation time of these cookies. 

This article is all about freezing biscotti, from how to do it correctly to make them crunchy again if thawing biscotti have made the cookies a little softer. 

What Is Biscotti?

If you are a cookie lover, you are probably familiar with biscotti. If you aren’t, then you have most likely guessed that it is something Italian. 

Biscotti, otherwise called cantucci, are biscuits (cookies) first made in the Italian region of Tuscany. Later, they spread through other countries in Europe and became popular in many parts of the world, including North America. 

Biscotti are cookies baked twice. First, the dough for biscotti is formed into a loaf and cooked in the oven.

Once it gets slightly golden, you take the biscotti loaf out of the oven and slice it at a slight angle, making each slice about half an inch thick. 

Biscotti is a cookie to be dipped in coffee. Thus, the slices should be thin and slim to be suitable for dipping. 

These slices are later spread on the baking sheet and baked in the oven for a few minutes more on both sides to get nice and crispy. This is the reason why the term biscotti is often used to refer to any cookie that is baked twice. 

Can You Freeze Biscotti?

Biscotti are simple when it comes to the ingredient list which makes it safe to freeze them. 

Biscotti dough is a mixture of dry ingredients, such as flour, baking powder, and salt, and wet ingredients, including unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, olive oil, and vanilla extract (optional). 

There are also delicious add-ins in biscotti. The true Italian biscotti is made with almonds. But you can alter the recipe and add different kinds of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. 

With this uncomplicated of an ingredient list, is there a reason why you can’t freeze biscotti?

Freezing biscotti is a great way of extending the shelf life of these crunchy cookies. 

If you have made a big batch, you can safely keep biscotti in the cold storage. To make freezing work for biscotti, you only need to store them correctly in the freezer. 

How Long Can You Keep Biscotti in the Freezer?

Biscotti are essentially toasted cookies. They are very crunchy and quite hard. Thus, the shelf life of these cookies is quite long compared to many other baked goods. 

The shelf life of biscotti is around 2 weeks in a well-sealed glass container. Biscotti with nuts or chocolate chips may keep longer while the ones with fruits are not as long-lasting. 

If you want to extend the life of twice-baked cookies, you can store them in the freezer where they will keep for up to 3 months. 

How to Freeze Biscotti

There are two ways you can freeze biscotti:

1. First, you can freeze the baked biscotti loaf. Slice it and store the half-done biscotti in the freezer. Second-bake the biscotti whenever you need fresh cookies. 
2. The second method of storing biscotti in the cold storage is freezing cookies that have been fully baked, i.e. baked twice in the oven. 

Here is how to effectively freeze and store biscotti:

1. Let the biscotti cool down until you put them in the freezer. 
2. Lay the cookies on a baking sheet and place it in the freezer until each cookie is frozen. If you have too many biscotti, you can create layers using parchment paper separating the cookies. 
3. Once the biscotti are frozen, store them in an airtight container. Glass containers are more preferable when you are freezing cookies. Sealable plastic bags are also an option if you don’t have a container at hand. 
4. Don’t overload the container so that biscotti doesn’t get crushed. 
5. To prevent freezer burn and any air getting to your biscotti, you can either place the container into a plastic bag or wrap it with cling paper. 
6. Label the container with the date and use within 3 months. 

How to Defrost Biscotti

To defrost biscotti, take the cookies out of the container you have been freezing them in. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until they are back to life.

If you let biscotti thaw in the container you have been freezing them in, contact with a higher temperature will form condensation.

As the temperature fluctuates, water droplets will be created in the container causing the biscotti to become rather soggy. 

Reheat the cookies in the oven if you want the feel of fresh biscotti. 

How to Make Defrosted Biscotti Crunchy Again

Biscotti are very crunchy and hard if you make them the true Italian way. This makes them good for freezing as you are guaranteed to not end up with extremely soft biscuits once defrosted. 

However, it is not a secret that freezing and defrosting affects the texture of the product, and biscotti are not an exception. 

Once defrosted, you may notice that your biscuits are softer than they were before freezing. Can you bring back the crunch?

To make biscotti crunchy again you don’t need much time or effort. You simply need to bake the twice-baked biscuits for the third time. 

Here is what you should do to make biscotti crunchy again: 

1. Heat the oven to 250 °F.
2. Put the thawed biscotti on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. For the best and the crunchiest result, don’t lay the biscotti on one side. Instead, place them standing up on the flat edge so that both cut sides are exposed to the hot air. 
4. Put the biscotti in the oven and turn the oven off. By the time it cools down, your cookies will be as crunchy as they were before being stored in the freezer. 

While you can make biscotti crunchy again and eat them dipping into a delicious latte or cappuccino, other family members may enjoy them slightly softened. In this case, defrosted biscotti are good to eat as is. 

How to Eat Defrosted Biscotti

If you have triple-baked the biscotti after defrosting to make them extra crunchy, you can serve them with a drink of your choice. 

The Italian way of enjoying biscotti is with fortified wine. However, biscotti are also popularly served with coffee and tea. 

Defrosted biscotti may be slightly soft but you can find delicious ways of using them. 

• Use Biscotti as a Topping – Slightly soft but not mushy biscotti is perfect to be used as a topping for ice cream. It would also taste delicious on top of yogurt, be it frozen or not. 
• Make a Parfait – Making a biscotti parfait is a great idea when you want to use the leftover biscotti that are a little too old to be eaten on their own. Using biscotti to make a parfait also works well with defrosted biscuits. Crumbled biscotti will replace the granola in the frozen dessert and make it unique yet rich and flavorful. 

Related Questions 

Can You Freeze Biscotti Dough?

Biscotti dough is very easy to make. However, it is quite sticky and your kitchen counter may experience a little mess while you are working with it. 

Thus, if you are making biscotti, a good thing to do is to make some extra dough and freeze it for another occasion. 

To make things easier for the next time you will be baking biscotti with pre-made dough, shape it into a loaf before freezing. 

Here’s an easy way to shape the biscotti dough into a loaf before freezing:

• Put the dough on a sheet of plastic paper. The plastic wrap will allow you to easily shape the sticky dough without adding any more flour and getting dough stuck to your hands. 
• Form it into a log.
• Put the dough in the freezer.

The dough will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

When you are ready to use it, let the dough first thaw in the refrigerator and only then transfer it on the baking sheet. 

Before baking the biscotti, pat the log-shaped dough down to flatten it to get the proper biscotti shape. 

Can You Freeze Chocolate-Dipped Biscotti?

You can freeze chocolate-dipped biscotti the same way you do plain biscotti. 

However, in the case of these biscotti, putting parchment paper between the layers of cookies is key. Otherwise, they will get stuck together once frozen. 

You should store chocolate-covered biscotti in the freezer in an airtight container. They will keep for up to 3 months. 

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