Another day in lockdown, and another recipe for you all to try!
And this one's a great one! Make your own almondy (yes, I know that's not a word), chewy little biscuit bites, that perfectly accompany a cup of coffee, which, lets face it, you're having at home these days, instead of frequenting your favourite coffee shop.
They don't take long to make, and are super easy. So if you have a spare half an hour, whip these up, and serve them to your family with their next hot drink - you'll be a hit!
Now, I made this recipe vegan, and, as always, it's gluten free. For the vegan version, you will need aquafaba. That is, the water from a can of chickpeas. It really is as simple as that. To enhance the texture of this water, you can siphon it from the can, pour in to a container, cover it, and store it in the fridge for 24 hours. This creates a thicker liquid, more akin to an egg white consistency. BUT, this is not crucial. You're good to use it straight from the tin, if you don't want to wait. Equally, if you don't require it to be vegan, replace the aquafaba with x2 egg whites, and you're good to go!
Also, we didn't add any Amaretto to our biscuits, because, well, we don't have any. But, if you do have some to hand, you can add a 1tbsp to your mixture, when adding the almond and vanilla extract.
Without further ado - the recipe:
Ingredients:
60ml Aquafaba (chickpea water)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
180g Ground almonds
120g Caster sugar
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
50g Icing sugar
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC, and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
In a spotless bowl - it really does have to be 100% clean, add the aquafaba and lemon juice, and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. This will take a while - most likely over 10 minutes, but it's worth the wait. You should be able to hold the bowl upside down over your head when ready. I did.
In a separate bowl, mix your ground almonds, caster sugar, and baking powder together.
When the aquafaba meringue is ready, add two spoonfuls to your dry ingredients, and gently fold through, creating a paste-like consistency.
Add in the remaining meringue to the mixture and fold through until all combined.
Add in the almond and vanilla extract, and the Amaretto (if using), and store until mixed through.
In to a clean bowl, sieve the icing sugar, and set aside.
Using your hands, roll small balls of the almond mixture and drop in to the icing sugar bowl. Roll the ball around in the icing sugar, and place on the pre-prepared baking tray. I weighed out my mixture to around 25g, and yielded 12 biscuits.
You can flatten your biscuits out slightly once on the tray, if you like a crispier biscuit. I kept mine more domed, which creates a crispy outside, with a chewy, fudgy centre.
Bake in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 18-20 minutes. Again, if you like your biscuit to be crispier, cook it for slightly longer, being careful not to burn them.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking tray, before transferring to a wire rack.
These biscuits can be stored for up to a week in a sealed container - but be mindful, that they will lose their crispness if kept airtight.
And that's it! Serve with a coffee, and you're good for an afternoon catch-up with your friends on Zoom.
Happy lockdown everyone. Stay inside. Stay safe. And bake.
Holly @ The Bakery Den.