Chickpea Flour Biscotti Thins {vegan, grain-free}

Chickpea flour biscotti thins with cranberries and almonds are a perfect coffee- or tea-time treat! They are vegan, grain-free, and only 44 calories each.

Grain-Free & Vegan Biscotti Thins

These crispy, crunchy biscotti thins are my new favorite snack. And dessert. And breakfast on the run. They are based on a cookie that I have purchased on multiple occasions–almondina. As much as I like them, I cringe at the price, often more than five dollars for a miniscule package filled with no more than a dozen or so cookies.

So I made my own version.

This version strays from the original in that I used chickpea flour in place of all purpose flour and eggs. It works like a charm! The resulting cookies have lots of nutrition plus great flavor and crunch, all at a fraction of the price of the packaged version (cheap-o me). Love!

An Easy Bake (But Plan Ahead)

These thins are very easy to make, but, they do require some planning ahead because, like all biscotti, they need to bake twice, first in loaf form, second in sliced form.

How to Make Chickpea Flour Biscotti Thins

The initial dough is a one-bowl affair: whisk the dry ingredients (chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, etc.), add the wet (milk, oil, extract), and last, stir in the almonds and cranberries.

The dough goes into a 9×5 inch pan (it’s closer to a batter than a dough, so a pan is necessary to keep the uniform shape).

Chickpea flour browns more quickly than wheat flour, so this initial bake is at 300F, which allows the initial cookie “loaf” to become quite firm without overbrowning.

 

I like to give the nuts and dried fruit a rough chop before adding to the dough because it makes the slicing, in phase 2, so much easier.

The advantage of chopping fruits and nuts applies to all biscotti, but especially so with these thin slices(which are slightly less than 1/4-inch in thickness). The knife is less likely to catch on big pieces and leave you with a pile of crumbs. Additionally, a rough chop ensures plenty of crunchy and fruity bits in every slice and bite!

 

Be sure to let the cookie loaf cool entirely before attempting to slice it. It slices easily with a serrated knife once completely cooled, but (trust me, I was impatient with an earlier batch) it will crumble if you rush things and attempt slicing while still warm-ish. I managed to restrain myself from eating more than a cup of crumbles (even mistakes can double as a delicious reward :)).

For the Least Crumbles, Chill the Baked Loaf

If you have the time, consider wrapping and chilling the baked loaf for an hour, or up to a day, before the second bake. A chilled loaf is so much easer to slice, and will produce the fewest crumbles, too.

Keep the Oven on Low Heat for the 2nd Bake

It took several batches (of browned and burned slices) to realize that I needed to keep the oven temperature as low as possible for the second bake.

The goal of the second bake is to thoroughly dry out the cookies, so that they will become and remain crisp, without  turning to ashes on the baking sheet. Setting the oven to 175F, and baking for an hour, works perfectly. After the hour of baking, turn off the heat and let the cookies remain in the oven for another hour to dry further.

The results are crunchy, lightly sweet and ideal for noshing and nourishing anytime, anywhere.

Happy baking, everyone!

Related Posts:

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2. 4-Ingredient Vegan Almond Flour Biscotti {Keto Option}
3. Vegan Pumpkin Almond Flour Biscotti {keto option}
4. Healthy 2-Ingredient Coconut Biscotti {Vegan, Keto Option}
5. Strawberry Almond Flour Crumble {Vegan, Keto Option}