Triple ginger freezer biscuits - gluten and dairy free

This sticky dough is easy to handle if rolled in clingfilm and frozen.  Slice and bake a few biscuits at a time for a warm spicy aroma in the house on a cold winter day and a lovely crunchy treat.

Ingredients:

200g ground almonds
200g flour (40%urid, 40%tapioca, 20% brown rice)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove
1 tsp ground ginger (add more if wanted- this gives quite a mild ginger flavour)
100g sugar
120g dark brown muscovado sugar
75ml oil
2 eggs
20g grated fresh ginger
75g crystallised ginger, chopped
belgian waffle pearl sugar or sugar crystals for topping if wanted.  The pearl sugar keeps it shape, is crunchy but not too hard.

Oven 170C fan, ten minutes from frozen, seven or eight from room temperature mix.  Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before moving onto a baking rack.


Mix the dry ingredients together.  My muscovado sugar was a solid lump so I hacked off the right amount with a large knife and heated it in the microwave with the oil to get a slurry that was easy to mix into the flour.  If you do melt the brown sugar make sure the mixture is not too hot before you add it to the eggs - you don't want scrambled egg at this stage.

Mix liquid ingredients together and add to dry.  I used the food mixer for this as it was quite a lot of work to do by hand. Add in grated fresh ginger and chopped crystallised ginger and mix.

You can bake this in blobs on your lined baking sheet.  This amount of dough will make a lot of biscuits.  The dough holds its height when baked like this so flatten a bit with a damp spoon.

Alternatively lay on clingfilm in a log, wrap, put in freezer on a baking sheet until firm.  Once firm the baking sheet can be removed. There is a risk that the dough would sag around your freezer racks if you put it straight in unsupported and so get stuck in place.

When you want to bake some biscuits just slice off thin layers, sprinkle with sugar if you want to, and bake on a lined baking sheet.

crunchy nutty cinnamon tear-and-share bread

It is cold and windy and yet again the river is in flood.  I wanted the warm comfort of a sweet spicy bread.  I have been continuing to keep a bowl of yeast dough/batter in the fridge, using it most days for a pizza or foccaccia.  This evening I took a good dollop (about three heaped tablespoons) of the batter, stirred in a teaspoon of mixed spice, four teaspoons of sugar, and a small handful of cranberries.  I would have used raisins but don't have any in stock. I spread this on the non-stick pan, and then sprinkled the top with lightly crushed pecans, a couple of teaspoons of sugar crystals and a sprinkling of spice. I put a little butter in small pieces on the top - use plenty if you are ok with dairy and want it richer.

I put this to sit in the oven with a pan of boiling water in the base for half an hour.  The steam gives a warm moist environment and speeds up rising  I then set the oven at 175C and the timer for 22 minutes.  I left the dough in the oven so that it continued to rise as the oven got hot.

This bread is soft, light, sweet and very easy to eat.  It can be spread with butter or eaten plain.  As it has very little fat you don't get sticky/greasy fingers eating it, which is a bonus for those of us that like to take a little bit every few minutes.

The dough is 500g flour (40%urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal),
20g Solanic potato protein 301 (this makes the dough light and stops slumping).  The potato protein is not necessary for low-rise breads; it is very helpful if you are making a full size loaf or using a breadmaker.
about 700ml water
2tsp dried yeast
pinch sugar.

Mix yeast, sugar and lukewarm water, leave to get a little frothy so you know the yeast is live.  Stir the flour into the water and leave to rise.  Cover and keep in the fridge to use for up to a week as needed.

Boozy cranberry and lemon gluten free cookies

I bought a bottle of sherry for a visit from my brother-in-law but it turns out he only drinks one variety.  What to do with a bottle of sherry?  What to do with the diminishing but still present stash of dried cranberries?  What to do for the Writer's Group party this evening?  Boozy cranberry and lemon cookies seemed the thing to try.  I soaked the cranberries in sherry so that they were plump and juicy. As I had run out of eggs these are an egg-free cookie.  The result?  A crunchy cookie with succulent berries and a good bit of zing.

200g flour (40% urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal)
2 tsp baking powder
80g butter
115g sugar
juice 2 lemons
rind 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
100g cranberries - soaked in alcohol (or juice) of choice

Mix dry ingredients including zest
rub in butter (or stir in soft margarine if used)
Stir in lemon juice and cranberries.  Add more juice if needed to make the dough hold together.

Place dollops on a baking sheet or roll between your palms for a smoother shape. Makes about 40 cookies.

Bake for about twelve minutes at 180C fan.  Let them cool slightly on the baking sheet or baking parchment to make them easier to handle before sliding them onto a cooling rack.  If you want them crisper put back in the oven at a lower temperature - the same way you would make biscotti.

Aloo Gobi using Bhaji Man kit

When we spent six weeks travelling in our campervan around Italy, France and Spain we started yearning for curry.  There were plenty of interesting foods available, but the more exotic ones are based on the areas colonised by these countries and didn't include curry.  I could carry jars of curry paste - I like Patak's, but don't want to carry heavy and breakable jars if I don't have to.

I bought some curry kits when I bought my last batch of urid lentils for my flour.  They come as sachets of spices in a packet, and include all the recipe instructions and a shoppping list.  Normally I would look at these and think, what an expensive way to buy a few spices, and what a lot of air - big boxes, little sachets.  However, for travelling these might be perfect. The Bhaji Man packs come with a reasuring big label on the front saying gluten free.  One might assume that spices don't have any gluten in but it is good to know that the packaging and processing of these spices hasn't contaminated them.

I made the aloo gobi - potato and cauliflower curry.  The pack contained three sachets, which have to be added at different stages.  One spices in one sachet needed crushing, so I rolled the sealed bag with a tin can - there is usually something solid available that would work.

The curry took longer to make that the recipe said, but I usually find potatoes take a long time on the stove.  I served it with basmati rice, with a pinch of garam masala in the cooking water.

The curry was delicious.  It didn't taste like the aloo gobi we eat in restaurants, but it would certainly beat those curry cravings.  Not having to measure spices, not having to carry individual jars of everything I might need, make these little kits an excellent option.  I suspect I would repackage the sachets and the instructions into a smaller bag to save space/

simple rock buns - gluten and dairy free

45g gf flour (40%urid, 40%tapioca, 20%cornmeal)
45g ground almonds
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
30g soft margarine (dairy free if wanted)
40g sugar
1 egg
raisins

Mix the flour, spices and baking powder.  Stir in the margarine; I found it mixed in quite easily with a spoon.  Add the sugar, the egg and the raisins.  You should have a mixture that needs pushing off the spoon.  This will give a rocky high biscuit.  If you want a flatter biscuit add some liquid - juice, milk or water, to make a dropping consistency.

For extra amusement sprinkle sugar crystals on top before baking.  Add mixed peel, cherries or other dried fruit to suit your taste.

Bake on sheets lined with baking parchment/silicone for 12-20 minutes depending on how big you make the little buns.  If you want a firmer texture return to the oven and cook for a few minutes more at a lower temperature to help them dry out.


These have a soft texture and slightly crisp outside.  They have a light sweet taste with just a hint of spice.