The best part of any holiday for me is returning with new ingredients which you would not normally find in your own country. So on this trip to Tuscany I kept an eye out in the shops and markets for something unusual to take home and experiment with. That’s when I found chestnut flour and now back home I have decided to make biscuits.
These biscuits have a rich warm taste provided by the various spices of ginger and cloves. The chestnut flour adds a delicious nutty sensation in the mouth. These are excellent for cold night as they warm the soul. The biscuits could easily be made gluten free by replacing the flour with more chestnut flour.
Yields: 20
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
120g unsalted butter
6 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground cardamom
180g dark brown sugar
40g golden syrup
40g black treacle
1 egg
80g plain flour
160g chestnut flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Method
- Melt the butter, sugar, ginger, cloves, cardamom and syrups in a medium saucepan on a gentle heat until smooth.
- Allow to cool before beat in the egg.
- Sieve the flours into saucepan in small portions until well combined before adding more.
- Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan) and line two trays with non-stick baking paper.
- Scoop out heaped teaspoons of the dough, and first roll them into balls using your hands, then flatten each ball slightly on the tray about 3 cm apart from each other.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until they are cracked all over the top and light gold brown. Don’t worry is the under side is still soft. This will harden when cooled, so don’t continue to cook or you will be left with rock hard biscuits. Leave to cool on the tray.
Rassasy 