These super tasty biscuits will delight both gluten free and non-gluten free guests (when guests are allowed again!). In my family, being gluten free, we often collect random flours, which end up sitting in our cupboard not getting used. This recipe utilises a not-so-often used flour, giving the biscuits their characteristic snap! There are many different options to design your perfect biscuit:
1. Leave them pain or decorate with icing once cool;
2. Create Jam print biscuits
3. Add coco powder to create chocolate biscuits
4. For those brave enough, split the dough and create patterned biscuits
I have included the steps for the above options, as well as the method for a plain biscuit.
Makes 20-25 biscuits
Ingredients
200g salted butter
200g caster sugar
1 medium egg
400g rice flour
1tsp Xanthan Gum
Optional extras
50g Blueberries
300g Icing sugar
1tbsp single cream
1/2 lemon, juiced
Jam print biscuits:
50g Jam (of your choice)
Chocolate / Patterned biscuits:
100g / 50g Coco powder
Method
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until lightly creamy. The more the butter is beaten, the more the biscuits will spread during the cooking time.
Beat in the egg until combined, remove the whisk and add the dry ingredients. I prefer to mix in my dry ingredients by hand until the mixture forms a dough. At this point you can add the coco powder, either to the entire mix or to half.
Roll you dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for minimum 1 hour.
Pre-heat your oven to 190°C / 170°C fan. Take the dough out of the fridge and knead to relax the mixture. Have a little read though the different choices at this stage and choose your favourite!
Plain biscuits:
Gluten free biscuits are notorious for cracking, so instead of rolling out my dough, I simply create a large, 7cm wide sausage shape and slice my biscuits into 1-1.5cm circles. This way there is less waste as well. Once sliced, place your discs onto a tray lined with baking paper. This can be done with either the plain vanilla biscuits or your plain chocolate variation.
Jam Print Biscuits:
Once the sliced dough is placed onto the tray, firmly press your thumb or teaspoon into the centre of each disc forming a well. It is important you don’t go all the way through. Fill each well with the jam, you can be generous with the jam as it will melt in the oven.
Patterned biscuits:
Now this is the time to get creative! Once your doughs are relaxed, separate both plain and chocolate doughs into 8 smaller balls. Roll these out to form thin sausages. Once you have all your sausages, simply stack them to form a 4x4 checkerboard design. Apply gentle pressure to each surface, rotating the log to ensure the individual sausages are well stuck to each other. Simply slice your log into 1-1.5cm squares and place onto a tray lined with baking paper.
Place into the oven for 15 minutes until slightly golden in colour. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then transfer onto a wire rack.
Iced Biscuits:
Whilst the biscuits are cooling, place the blueberries into a saucepan over a low heat to cook. The berries will start to burst and release their juices. Place the blueberries and the juices into a blender along with the icing sugar, cream and lemon juice. Blend until a vibrant purple colour. Allow to cool slightly then ice your biscuits. The mix should be thick enough that it won't run off the biscuits. The icing does set as it cools so don't leave it too long!
These are the perfect sweet treat to accompany a nice cup of tea!