Keto chocolate biscotti with peppermint and white chocolate is a festive holiday treat. These easy keto Christmas cookies are perfect for making ahead and giving aways as gifts. Or keeping them all for yourself!
Hey there, keto friend. Are you as much of a biscotti lover as I am? Do you love that crunchy, dry Italian style cookie, especially when dipped in a hot beverage?
You know I do! I would wager that I have developed more keto biscotti recipes than any other recipe creator our there. It’s a bit of an obsession, to be honest.
And I particularly love them around the holidays, when I can jazz them up with holiday flavors. Like the classic Cranberry Pecan Biscotti or my Keto Gingerbread Biscotti. Now we’re adding Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti to that list.
Because they bake so hard and dry, they’re perfect make-ahead cookies. I freeze mine and give them as gifts but I always keep plenty for myself.
Updated recipe
These Keto Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti have been on the blog since 2013. But back then, there was no really good keto-friendly chocolate on the market so I had to do some work arounds.
I had to use low sugar dark chocolate from Lindt for the chocolate dip, and a cacao butter mixture for the white chocolate drizzle. While it was good, it was higher carb than I would like.
Then a few companies like ChocZero and Lily’s started making truly keto chocolate, which made me very happy. It took a while but then they started making keto white chocolate as well. And my keto baking happiness was complete!
How to make keto chocolate biscotti
As with most biscotti, this recipe is quite easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to dry out properly in the oven!
Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Use finely ground almond flour. When I first started making keto biscotti, I thought I could grind the nuts myself. But this made them coarse and much more fragile. A commercially ground nut flour is important!
- Use the right sweetener. Want crispy cookies? You need an erythritol based sweetener like Swerve. Anything with allulose or BochaSweet will make them soft and they won’t crisp up. Watch my Keto Baking School video so see what allulose does to cookies!
- Add cocoa powder. I recommend a dutched cocoa powder for a richer chocolate flavor.
- Just a touch of baking powder. You want the biscotti log to rise just a little bit, but not too much.
- Egg provides structure. The added egg helps hold the biscotti together when slicing.
- Add extract. It doesn’t have to be peppermint if you’re not a fan. Feel free to use vanilla, almond, or caramel. Or really any flavoring that floats your boat and goes well with chocolate.
- Bake once. The first step in making any biscotti is to bake the whole as one large log until it’s nice and firm but not dry.
- Slice carefully. These keto biscotti are gluten free and as such, they are more fragile when cutting. I find that I need to saw back and forth just to break the surface of the log, but then cutting straight down is best.
- Bake again. Place the cookies back on the baking sheet and lower the temperature of the oven. Bake until nice and dry to the touch. This often means letting them sit inside the warm oven until they are completely cool.
Dipping keto biscotti in chocolate
You could stop there and make plain keto chocolate biscotti. But dipping them in melted chocolate and drizzling on some white chocolate takes them from really good to absolutely spectacular.
Besides, this way you can tell people that they are triple chocolate peppermint biscotti. Yum and so perfect for the holidays. A few tips for you:
- I always recommend melting keto chocolate in a double boiler, as it makes it much less likely to seize.
- A little cocoa butter helps it melt more smoothly, and thins it out a bit so you don’t have such a thick layer. Fewer carbs too!
- White chocolate is even more finicky than dark chocolate so the cocoa butter is very important.
- If you can, choose an oil based extract when adding things like peppermint into keto chocolate coatings. Some people find that the chocolate seizes when they add alcohol based extracts. I haven’t had this problem as it usually means the heat is too high. But using oil-based will help.
Frequently Asked Questions
You bet! You can use sunflower seed flour in place of the almond flour (in about the same amount, although you may need a few tablespoons more). It may take a little longer to bake and firm up, because of a higher oil content.
You can do that too. Simply swap coconut oil for the butter and leave of the white chocolate, which contains dairy.
As I mentioned above, you must use an erythritol based sweetener if you want a crisp cookie. Lakanto is fine, but anything that contains allulose, xylitol or BochaSweet won’t work.
Absolutely! Any keto biscotti freeze well, both before and after dipping in chocolate. Store in a covered container for up to 2 months.
So glad you asked! It’s some sugar free sanding “sugar” from The Sprinkle Company on Etsy. Isn’t it pretty?
More keto chocolate peppermint recipes
- Sugar-Free Keto Marshmallows
- Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake Mousse
- Grasshopper Bars
- Homemade Keto Peppermint Patties
- Dairy Free Peppermint Bark
Keto Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti
Ingredients
Biscotti
- 1 ¾ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Chocolate Peppermint Dip
- 2 ½ ounces dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- ½ ounce cocoa butter
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
White Chocolate Drizzle:
- ¾ ounce sugar-free white chocolate chips
- ¼ ounce cocoa butter
Instructions
Biscotti
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the coconut oil, egg, and peppermint extract until the dough comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto baking sheet and form into a long, low log, about 10 by 4 inches.
- Bake 25 minutes or until just firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250F.
- With a sharp knife, carefully cut log into 14 even slices. Place the slices back on baking sheet, cut-side down and bake 15 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake another 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and let sit inside until cool.
Chocolate Peppermint Dip
- Place the chocolate and cocoa butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract.
- Dip each biscotti fully on one side into the chocolate and place back on the baking sheet. Refrigerate to set the chocolate.
White Chocolate Drizzle
- In another heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate and cocoa butter until smooth.
- Place in a ziplock baggie with the very corner snipped off and drizzle lightly over the biscotti. Or you can simply drizzle it over with a small spoon.
Lily says
These were delicious, super easy to make, and have tons of flavor! The perfect treat to enjoy with my morning coffee!
Stephanie says
Best Keto recipe i’ve tried lately! Great texture too!
Ashley F. says
These turned out incredibly good! The texture and flavor was perfect!
Cindy says
Made this today and enjoyed a piece with my hot tea. Delicious!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Jill says
These biscotti are delicious!! I didn’t want to go for the extra steps of the dipping and drizzle as I’m lazy so I added chocolate chips to the dough and it was perfect. They came out crunchy just how I like them and I was thrilled with this wonderful treat. However, I packed them up in a plastic container with Saran on top and was so disappointed to find that the next day they were no longer crunchy but soft. Still taste great but could you tell me how I pack these up to keep the crunch next time I bake these?
Carolyn says
Did you put them away while they were still warm? That would create steam and make them soft. I just leave mine out on a plate or in a regular covered container, but only after they are totally cool. You CAN re-crisp them in a warm oven.
Susan Thompson says
I just made these today and they are delicious! Very reminiscent of a certain Girl Scout cookie. I’ve made a keto version of those in the past, and it was a bit of work. This was easy, as long as one has time for the cooling steps. Excellent!
Judy says
I made your cinnamon roll biscotti with great success, but I can’t get the peppermint biscotti to dry out. Has anyone else had this problem? I have even baked it longer. This is one of my favorite flavor combinations, so I really want it to work (get crunchy).
Carolyn says
Hmmm, not sure what’s going on there. No one else seems to have had that particular issue. I guess I would have to say that if you make it again, use less butter? That’s all I can think of in this case.
Judy says
Carolyn, I just realized something. The Cinnamon Roll Biscotti calls for butter and the Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti calls for coconut oil. I wonder if that is the difference? Maybe I should use butter instead of coconut oil.
Carolyn says
Perhaps! I didn’t look back at this recipe when guiding you, so maybe the butter substitution would help. Again, no one else has indicated that they had this problem so I can’t be sure it’s not something else. What brand of almond flour did you use?
Judy says
I used Honeyville blanched almond flour.
Lisa says
Carolyn, I know that it is well past the holidays, but I’m just getting around to putting comments on all the recipes of yours that I’ve tried. I made these for a cookie exchange and they were a huge hit with all of the Moms and kids. This was the most requested recipe of the day.
The only change I made was to skip the white chocolate and add crushed no-sugar peppermints on the top.
Pieter says
Looks very nice, i did have some questions though:
Is the coconut oil interchangeable with butter?
And is this one of the recipes in which almound flour is interchangeable with ground almond (as described in your post about almond flour)
Carolyn says
Yes, butter would be fine. Almond meal isn’t idea but you can do it…you may want to add another 1/4 tsp xanthan gum and cut them very carefully.
Debbie says
Question – do you use regular salt (like Morton’s) or celtic sea salt?
Carolyn says
I use Trader Joe’s sea salt. But you can use either, it doesn’t need much.
mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says
These are gorgeous – and I have really missed biscotti since going low carb! I have been working on a peppermint and white chocolate truffle using raw white cacao for the first time. Getting the right consistency is tricky but I think I’m almost there! Your drizzle looks great and is the perfect contrast to the dark cookie! I love those candy cane striped napkins too – super cute!!!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
These biscotti are so festive, Carolyn! I love the chocolate-peppermint flavor combo. Looks like such a delish, Christmassy treat!
Rebecca says
I don’t have cacao butter, could you use coconut oil instead?
Carolyn says
You could certainly try. I am not sure it will harden quite as well but it should taste great.
Heather from Canada says
Hi, just wondering ig peppermint oil is stronger tasting than extract? I have a feeling a drop or two would be more than sufficient… any thoughts? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Excellent question! I bet it is stronger, essential oils typically are. Go with a drop or two and if you find the biscotti don’t have enough, you can amp up the oil a bit in the coating and the drizzle.
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Fantastic biscotti, Carolyn! Love peppermint and chocolate combo! Pinned!
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
Carolyn – I always love seeing your different biscotti – these are beautiful and I agree, chocolate + peppermint is a great combo.