Gluten Free Digestive Biscuits (Dairy Free included)

I regularly make my Chocolate Digestive recipe and they are always a big hit. They’re really good and recently made another batch and as they cooled, my husband walked into the kitchen and said the smell was great and could he have them? He’s a coeliac and I felt really bad having to say no, these are not for you 🙁

So the hunt began to find a workable recipe for gluten free digestive biscuits and this is a combination of two I found and together, they worked perfectly. I also like that the ingredients were ones most coeliacs or gluten intolerant bakers would have at home. You will find this recipe along with some other great biscuit and cookie recipes in my Gluten Free Baking from the Heart Recipe Book (available here) 

There was one ingredient that did surprise me – Chinese Five Spice! Yep I know it gives a little heat at the back of the throat. Perfect! You can smell the spice while the biscuits are baking but it’s not identifiable once baked. You could replace the Chinese Five Spice with some Mixed Spice if you prefer.

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Cherry & Almond Cookies – Dairy Free version included

I think practically everyone loves a Bakewell Tart and I’m as big a fan as the rest! These cookies have all those amazing flavours with only a little effort and you can make the dough ahead of time and keep in the fridge till it’s needed.

They contain ground almonds and almond extract to give that delicious Bakewell flavour and the recipe called for glace cherries  but as it’s the season for fresh and sweet cherries, I used half and half and it worked out really well.

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Strawberry Blondies

Blondies to me are like the little sister of Brownies – basically the same but without the cocoa powder and chocolate.

They are buttery, soft, chewy and very simple to make with no mixers needed – always a nice thing!

Blondies are the perfect bake for cake sales, charity bakes and perfect to transport. What’s not to love!

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Oat Cookies – Gluten Free Option included

I recently bought the lovely Val Stones’ book, The Cake Whisperer and there are some great home baking recipes in it which are tried and tested over many years. I loved Val on GBBO when she said she listened to her cakes to see if they were baked through. She came across such a lovely, warm person who really loved baking and those she baked for.

This recipe is originally for Ginger & Cinnamon Cookies and I’ve made both the original version plus I’ve made a Chocolate Chip & Cinnamon version too. Both are really delicious and went down very well with everyone. I converted them to gluten free so everybody at cozebakes could enjoy them and no one noticed the difference so that’s always a good sign. I’ve put the regular and gluten free versions in the ingredients.

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Skinny Lime & Coconut Squares – Gluten and Dairy Free

This recipe is adapted from Hannah Mills who has been writing baking books for years and rarely fails to impress.  It needs a stand mixer to get the creamy consistency that’s needed to create a lovely, light cake. It only takes about 10 mins to get the batter into the tin and oven ready so it’s quick and very tasty.

There’s no butter used which keeps it low fat and I’ve reduced the sugar quantity to help make these squares even better for you. As lime is generally sweeter than lemon, you can reduce the sugar without it impacting too much on the overall sweetness.

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Lemon Shortbread

There’s something so simple and delicious about shortbread and it can be made in any shape which is great too. I used a square, 9″ tart tin so I could cut them into rectangular pieces and it has a removable bottom which is handy too.

It simply needs some parchment to line the base. This recipe does well if allowed to sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes and then baked.

I scored the pastry before baking but I may have needed to go a bit deeper with the knife. As we’re such big lemon fans, I thought it would be really nice to use the zest of a lemon in the shortbread and I added 1/2 tsp of Sicilian Lemon Extract for a bit more punch.

A little drizzle of a lemon glaze was the perfect finish topped with pistachio pieces. Ta Dah 🙂

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Coconut Protein Cookies – Gluten Free

Ooh imagine .… a cookie that has no added processed or refined sugars, has a high protein content, is full of fibre, healthy fats and is low carb! Well here it is folks and you can thank me once you make them and try them because they are beyond delicious! In fact, I would reduce the honey quantity as I found them quite sweet but try them and see for yourself what you think.

I used a locally produced honey which is completely natural and organic so if you can get similar, it all helps to produce a healthy cookie.

You can use any mix of seeds you like; I just happened to have sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I used a vanilla flavour whey protein powder but if you have a different one, try it to change the finished flavour of your cookies or stick with unflavoured if you prefer.

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Oat Raisin Cookies – Gluten Free Version included

I found this recipe on Pinterest and originally from Two Purple Figs and I’m a sucker for a traditional Oat Raisin cookie but wanted to make them healthier and to be fair to everyone in the house, gluten free too so I’ve modified the original and it worked out great!

So these are a healthy cookie compared to what you would purchase or traditionally make. They use organic coconut sugar in smaller quantities, have protein powder and include some mixed seeds. All in all, a lot less guilt and some good stuff for you too 🙂

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Gluten Free Biscuits

These delicious biscuits are perfect for cutting out using your favourite cutters and can be made at Christmas, Halloween or just because. They work well to different flavour additions and bake up in no time.

I used an embossed rolling pin to get a pattern on the dough and then decorated them with royal icing.

This recipe is free from soya, nuts and is vegetarian also 🙂

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Lemon Shortbread – Regular and Gluten Free

This is a recipe for Lemon Shortbread which I converted to gluten free and it worked out well. It’s very short so can be quite crumbly. It needs time to sit both before baking (in the fridge) and after baking, in an airtight container. I found the gluten free version more sturdy the next day but once you follow the steps, it will be irresistible!

I used Lemon Extract to give the biscuits an extra zing of lemon but don’t worry if you don’t have any. The recipe calls for a tsp of lemon zest and you can add a little extra if not using the extract.

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Date & Apple Cake / Traybake

I first sampled this delicious cake at a Neff Cooking Demonstration to help me understand my new cooker better and not use just 3 settings! After tasting it I asked for the recipe and the ladies very kindly gave it to me.

I made it in an 8″ / 20cm round tin but ideally if you want it to do the same, you need to use a 9″ / 23cm tin or as a traybake, use a 30cm x 20cm rectangular tin. You can serve up to 16 people so it’s a great crowd pleaser.

Don’t worry at all if you don’t like dates; one of my friends is not a fan so I blitzed the dates in a blender before adding them but you can of course just mush them with a fork or potato masher.  Continue reading