Banana Peanut Butter Oaty Biscuits

 These biscuits are crazy weird but they work.

Better still they are delicious.

Ingredients:

1 very ripe large banana

1 rounded cupful of rolled oats

3 rounded tbsps of peanut butter

1 rounded tbsp of chia seeds

1 dsp honey & 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of good chocolate chips

Optional extra addition- 1/3 cup of finely ground acorn flour or hemp hearts, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds or whatever you like. 

Smoosh all the ingredients together in a bowl and leave to stand for 20 minutes.

Scoop out large tablespoonsful of the mix, shape then & flatten on to baking paper on a baking tray

Cook for 20 minutes at 160 degrees.

That's it!

Ah, now the acorn part. It just so happens that it's the time when you might come across acorns through June. The best ones to use are from evergreen oaks. Either the Holly Oak or Quercus Ilex. 

All you need to do then is to bake the acorns in a moderate oven for 15- 20 minutes and while they are still warm give them a soft tap with a little hammer, remove the shells and then grind them in a spice grinder. Give them a sieve to remove any larger bits that haven't ground finely enough.

They taste like toffee caramel- delicious!

So they are a great addition to these particular biscuits. 

You can read more about using evergreen oak acorns here.

Catherine

Apple, Raisin and Oatmeal Biscuits

 I don't bake a lot of biscuits but these apple, raisin and oatmeal biscuits are great.

See alternative recipe below made with sweet persimmon.

The recipe makes loads of good sized biscuits. They keep surprisingly well considering they have apple in them, they are really satisfying and best of all they are perfect for picnics.

In a large bowl mix

3 cups of rolled oats & 1 cup of flour- I prefer white or wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 

1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

In another bowl cream 170 grams of butter (cut up & soften) with 3/4 cup brown sugar or jaggery.

Add an egg, a tsp of vanilla extract and 1/3 of a cup of milk.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together along with a large grated apple and 1 1/2 cups of raisins or sultanas. 

Bake in a preheated oven at around 160 degrees C on baking paper for 15- 20 minutes until golden.

I used generous tablespoonfuls of mixture. They don't spread particularly so you can bake them quite close together.

Cool on a wire rack.

June 2024 and we are still loving these biscuits. Right now we're in the middle of persimmon season. To be honest, I prefer sweet persimmons just as they are but lots of people have been telling me about using them in other ways so, when we decided to head off for an adventure on Monday- King's birthday, I decided to have a go with persimmon not just apple & they are fabulous biscuits indeed.

I made a variation of the above

In to one bowl put:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup of shredded coconut

1 cup of organic flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups raisins (or cranberries, apricots etc

1 tsp each cinnamon & ground ginger

1 tbsp chia seeds (add some sunflower seeds if you like too)

2 grated persimmons

calendula flowers- three or four flowers just the petals

In another bowl add:

170 gms butter- soften

3/4 cup brown sugar cream together

Add 1 egg 

1 dsp vanilla essence

Add the above dry stuff in to the bowl plus 1/3 cup milk 

Mix altogether.

Spoon out large spoonfuls of mixture- shape & flatten a bit.

Bake for 20 minutes at 160 degrees just the same.

Katie X

Persian Love Biscuits

 I came across these Persian Love Cookies just here at heneedsfood the other day and just adored the beautiful presentation! I don't bake a lot of biscuits but these looked so delicious and seemed so simple I decided to make them to celebrate spring.

Very easy to make- I halved the recipe the first time around.

Mine have come out tasting like extra delicious biscotti.

Ingredients:

140 grams of ground almonds

110 grams of sifted icing sugar

1/3 c of dried rose petals (yes, they're fine in the biscuits- I cut mine up)

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg- I grate nutmeg from whole nuts

A teeny pinch of salt

1 tsp rose water 

1 egg white

Mix until it all comes together in a ball

Roll in to balls & then in finely sliced pistachio nuts

Press each ball fairly flat- around 1 cm thick on to baking paper on an oven tray

Bake at 170 c for around 20 minutes

Keep a close eye on them towards the end of cooking- they need to be golden not dark brown!

When cold, ice with this icing:

Make a small amount of strong hibiscus (sabridiffa) tea in a small cup- cool

Strain and stir in to 1/2 cup of icing sugar until the icing is pourable 

Add a splash of rose water

Such a simple way to make glorious rose pink icing without artificial colourings

Decorate the biscuits and the plate and the table, if you like, with edible flowers

I've used lilac, double violets, heartsease, double pink hawthorn, flowering cherry blooms, white soul strawberries, Mme Cecile Brunner roses, granny bonnets and scented geranium flowers.

Dust the whole thing with icing sugar when you're done for a magical feel.

Katie X