Our Amish Friendship Bread biscotti recipe is an unexpected hit — the extra sugar in the starter adds just enough sweetness to this otherwise flavorful sourdough crunch.
I know you’re always hearing me say there are LOTS of recipes you can make with your 1 bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter, but this recipe always comes as a surprise to me.
Our Amish Friendship Bread biscotti recipe is an unexpected hit — the extra sugar in the starter adds just enough sweetness to this otherwise flavorful sourdough crunch. We love that it’s so versatile — it’s so easy to add nuts and dried fruit, and it keeps forever (well, up to two weeks on a sealed container in the fridge but even longer in the freezer). You can ice or glaze it as well. This makes an easy treat or gift and each recipe yields 24 biscotti so there’s always plenty to go around.
Kitchen Friend Diane Siniscalchi used creative add-ins in her biscotti: These were very easy to make. I made a variation: Apricot Pecan AFB Biscotti. I substituted butter flavoring for vanilla, substituted 1 cup of pecans for walnuts or almonds, and added ¾ cup dried apricots, chopped. The biscotti cut very nicely, and tasted very good. Next time I might use a full cup of apricots and drizzle the biscotti with melted butterscotch.
Amish Friendship Bread Biscotti
Ingredients
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup almonds or walnuts coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).
- In medium bowl, cream together starter, sugar and butter. Stir in vanilla extract and egg.
- In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into creamed mixture. Fold in nuts.
- Divide dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece out into a log about 10 inches long. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten until they are about 3 inches wide.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 10-15 minutes.
- Slice logs crosswise into ½ -inch wide slices. Place slices cut side down on baking sheet.
- Return to oven for additional 15 minutes, until crisp and light brown. Cool and store in airtight container.
- ENJOY!
>> Have you tried this? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
These are so easy to make and delicious. You can use whatever you wish in them. I put pistachios in one roll, dried cranberries in another and coconut in a third roll. I only baked mine the one time and didn’t put back in the oven as my husbanded wanted softer ones. Highly recommend this recipe!
I was apprehensive at first about making biscotti. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This recipe is easy and the results are amazing. My favorite is following the suggestion to make apricot pecan biscotti. I want to try some of the other suggestions next. My family LOVES them!
I am loving this recipe! Do you know how I could add cocoa powder to it to make them chocolate, or another way?
Can I make this recipe using a traditional sourdough starter instead of the Amish Friendship starter? I read your instructions for creating an Amish starter with a sourdough starter, but I don’t want to have another type of starter to take care of, and don’t plan to make biscotti often.
Hi Maggie! We haven’t tried to make this recipe with a traditional sourdough starter, so you will have to experiment, but this post about substituting sourdough starter in the place of AFB starter should help, too: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faq-substituting-regular-sourdough-starter-in-place-of-amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Did anyone else have trouble with slicing the logs because they were too crumbly? I thought my batter was too dry and probably because the egg I used was fairly small. Should have added another. Anyway taste great but fall apart when eating.
Good recipe. I added sliced almond and cranberries. Almond extract instead of vanilla.
That sounds delicious, Sandra! Thanks for sharing! If you took any pictures, we’d love to see them! You can post them on our group Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amishfriendshipbread
Very yummy. I’ve had a hard time with the creaming step of the starter, butter and sugar. I think I may need to creamy just the sugar and butter, then ad starter. Otherwise the fat just separates into the starter and my mixer flings the wet mixture all over the kitchen.
All that to say, the end results have still been delicious. So it’s forgiving!
Good tip, Brandon! Thanks for sharing. So glad they turned out well!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! My hubby loves biscotti. Thank you@
You’re welcome, Tansie!
These turned out fantastic! I dipped them is dark chocolate, my oh my!
I burned mine, unfortunately, but the parts that weren’t burned were delicious! I’m going to try it again without adding anything, then I’ll go from there. 😉
I would like to try making this for my family. I have never made biscotti before.
Oooh, I want to try these.
Made this. It is so good! Used pecans made huge batch so flavoring I did Vanilla Butter rum extracts….was very good…can play with this one more on flavors….???
That sounds amazing! If you ever want to snap a pick of your wonderful Amish Friendship Bread creations, you can send it to us here. Happy baking!
OMG these are good! I used dried cranberries, orange extract and orange zest and almond slivers…YUMx10 ! This website is going on the top of my favorites list!
Yay! Thanks Lori!
What kind of flour do I use in making biscotti, plain or self-rising, if plain do I add baking powder???
Hi Edith, we use all-purpose flour unless otherwise indicated. The recipe will tell you if you need baking powder or not, but this one does use one teaspoon of baking powder. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
I would love to make these for my sister, we love to sit down with our biscottis and coffee to talk and catch up on events in our lives!
I would make these Biscottis for my sister, my daughter and I…
I would make these Biscottis for my daughter and I also..
My sister and husband would just love these
Dang, these,look yummy! I would make them for myself, as well as my sister kristina Kohler and my MIL, Valena Klemm
I made these last Christmas for my sister and husband. I dipped the biscotti in chocolate for an extra added touch. These turned out great! I am going to make them again this year.
I just pulled a batch of these out of the oven – delicious! I added 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, substituted pecans rather than walnuts, then drizzled with white and dark chocolate.
I can’t wait for this to be ready to eat , love biscotti.
Oh my goodness, I LOVE biscotti, and this sounds so wonderful! I have starter ready to go, so this will be my dessert tonight, thank you! Doing my happy dance now.
Tried these with espresso powder, cappuccino chips and butter brickle bits, drizzled with melties with added espresso powder. They smell SO good.
Great tip, Rhea! Thank you so much for sharing!
I had a lot of starter sitting around so I made a few variations.
+lemon zest, lemon juice, and some Country Time lemonaid powder, drizzle with vanilla powdered sugar glaze
+walnuts, dip in vanilla flavored chocolate/candy coating
+ espresso grounds and cocoa powder, dip in chocolate/candy coating
Hi, I love biscotti and would love to have you link this to my party. Have a good weekend. Linda
http://twosucculentsisters.blogspot.com/2013/01/hi-everyone-welcome-to-what-to-do.html
Sure, Linda! Thanks for letting us know!
The biscotti is such a hit with my friends and family. Try adding 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and choice of nuts for chocolate biscotti, and substitute lemon extract for vanilla and add almonds for lemon biscotti. It is a can’t miss.
had my leftover starter in a bowl on the counter covered with plastic. It was doing well with some bubbles …I stirred once a day and then fed once. It has done nothing at all for days now. I want to use to bake but it does not seem active. whats a girl too do?
AFB Starter will typically bubble for the first day or two after feeding and then just rest until you feed it again. The original recipe calls for feeding it on day 6 and day 10. I think if you feed it again, it should be happy. If you have further questions, I would suggest asking them on the facebook group as this page is specific to this recipe. Cheers!
I love biscotti with my morning cup of tea. Sams no longer carries the plain biscotti that I like so well. I’m certainly going to make this. Thanks so much for the recipe.
Here you go!
https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/pantry/coconut-walnut-afb-biscotti
Made this with almond extract, almonds and mini chocolate chips. They didn’t get hard like biscotti I’ve gotten from the store. Is that normal or did I do something wrong?
You can bake them longer to get them crunchier, Tiffany. Every oven is different and the addition of the starter does make the recipe a little bit softer, but you should still be able to get a nice snap from them!
These look lovely! 🙂
I bet they’d be fantastic half-dipped in chocolate.