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Semolina Biscotti are golden and buttery with a beautiful coarse texture from rich semolina flour. A delightful Italian inspired semolina cookie. This biscotti is not overly sweet and can be served with a savory meal! 
I have another biscotti recipe for you and I know you're going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!
If you guys read my last post, you know why biscotti are literally my favorite cookies to make (aside from the fact I tend to gravitate towards Italian baked goods 😉 ).
In my last post, I covered all the reasons why biscotti are the best cookies, but here's a quick TL;DR recap for you...
- Biscotti are the easiest cookies to make. Once the dough comes together you form it into a log, bake and then slice. Since you don’t have to scoop out dough into individual cookies, you can whip up a batch of biscotti FAST.
- Once you master making basic biscotti, you can get creative with flavors and add-ins. You guys know how much I love adding my own twist on things, and biscotti is so versatile! Don’t like nuts? Make biscotti without nuts! Add in spices, chocolate chips, dried fruit, extracts…It’s so great being able to throw in whatever you have in your pantry.
- Biscotti are a ONE BOWL RECIPE and you only need ONE COOKIE TRAY.
My favorite thing about biscotti is the fact that you can get creative with flavors. I've always found that it is easy to experiment with a basic recipe (I hope to have that up for you guys soon!).
Semolina Biscotti
Introducing Semolina Biscotti. Literally, my new favorite.
I don't know if Semolina biscotti is already a thing, but it needs to be.
This recipe came to me when I was emptying out my pantry and found containers of two flours; graham and semolina.
We are always making pasta and bread with semolina so this is a great way to use up any leftover semolina flour.
I immediately thought that these would both make excellent biscotti, so I texted some friends and took a vote.
Personally, I wanted to use the graham flour, but to my surprise, everyone voted for Semolina (all who participated were also Italian, so I guess it's not really that shocking).
What is semolina biscotti like?
The end result is nothing short of magic, I swear. This cookie perfectly highlights that buttery, golden, beautiful flour like nothing else I've ever had. Everyone in my family went absolutely bonkers for this cookie.
What is Semolina flour?
Semolina flour is Durham wheat that is coarsely ground. I've always been familiar with this type of flour because it is used a lot in Italian cooking (pasta, pizza...) & bread baking. Semolina flour is best known for helping to hold shape due to it's high-gluten content (it is a MUST for homemade pasta), but it also has a very rich, buttery flavor.
For this Semolina Biscotti, I split the flour mixture and used half all purpose flour & half semolina.
I think it created a nice balance; you can taste the flavor of semolina and the texture is more sandy (almost like how cornbread is) but the cookie bakes up perfectly and isn't tough (be careful when using high gluten flours because you don't want to over mix where that can happen!).
I have a similar recipe, Lemon Ricotta Cake, where I blend all purpose flour and cornmeal (semolina can also be used) which creates a beautiful texture & crumb.
The thing I like most about this cookie is, you really don't think of dessert when you're eating it. It can certainly be dessert, but the flavor is more wholesome and we found ourselves snacking on it with our eggs at breakfast and meals at dinnertime, too.
Again, it reminds me of a slightly sweet cornbread and it oddly paired very well with a bowl of chili.
That fact makes it unusual for me to post here, since I only post desserts and sweet treats, but this recipe kind of falls right in between those lines.
It's too yummy for me to not share with you guys.
Semolina Biscotti
Semolina Biscotti are golden and buttery with a beautiful coarse texture from rich semolina flour. A delightful Italian inspired semolina cookie. This biscotti is not overly sweet and can be served with a savory meal!
- Total Time: 55
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (at room temp)
- ¾ c granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 c semolina flour
- 1 c all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare one cookie tray with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and mix well for about 1 minute.
- Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gently fold in the dry ingredients until combined; stop once the dough comes together.
- Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of all purpose flour onto the cookie tray that is lined with parchment. Carefully dump out the bowl onto the tray and gently form the dough into one long log. The dough will be slightly sticky and soft, so add more flour as needed to form the shape.
- Stretch the dough lengthwise until it is as long as the cookie sheet (about 13 inches). Cut the log in half and place the two sections of dough next to each other. Press each log down so that the dough is about ½ inch thick.
- Using your hand, gently shape the edges so that they are straight.
- Bake for about 30 min until light golden brown & firm.
- Once finished baking, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on the tray.
- Drop the oven temp to 280°F.
- Place one log at a time on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into cookies on a diagonal into thick slices. Place the cookies on their sides and place back into the oven for 10 minutes.
- After the cookies are done baking on the one side, flip them over again and bake the other sides for 10 minutes. (I found that baking for even more time, 20min on each side, results in a cookie that is very crisp, if you prefer that then you can bake them for longer).
- After the last bake, allow to cool on the tray.
Notes
I recommend using this brand of flour.
Original recipe by Owlbbaking.com
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Semolina Biscotti, Semolina flour recipes, semolina cookies, Italian cookies
Tradene
I make exactly as written and I love this. Crunchy but not too hard. I am a sucker for anything with cornmeal or semolina in it as I love the texture. Have made this many times and sometime add some orange zest. Thank you!
Liz
Thank you SO much for the kind words!!!! LOOOVE the addition of orange zest! Brilliant!!
ANTONINE KOVAL
For years I have been making a biscotti recipe from someone's grandma in Michigan that used a combination of cornmeal, flour and almond flour. They are ALWAS a hit! I always thought maybe I could use semolina instead of the cornmeal to make it more Italian. I bet the grandma could not get semolina so she substituted cornmeal. I can't wait to try this!
Liz
OooOo that combo does sound amazing! I hope you enjoy this recipe!! It truly is one of my favorites of all my biscotti!!
SHRUTI DIXIT
Any chance of using just semolina flour and no all-purpose?
Liz
Great question! Using a blend of flours gives the biscotti structure, so I would say including all purpose flour is essential for this recipe.
Samantha
These were such a hit when I made them and so easy! I wanted to ask for a quick clarification- the ingredients call for baking soda and powder but the directions just say to add the baking powder.... do you use both or just the powder?
Liz
Hi Samantha! Thank you so much for the comment!! I'm so glad you loved the recipe! I apologize for the typo! Yes, both are added and should be in the instructions. I've adjusted the recipe! 🙂 Thank you!!
Megan
Came out perfect and not too sweet. I am lucky to have any left to take to my morning tea. The kids loved them and are a great nut free alternative for school lunchbox. Love this recipe and will probably make it my go to.
Liz
Thank you so much for the kind words, Megan!! I'm so glad you and your family loved these cookies! 🙂 This version is one of my top, top faves!