For the almond lovers… these biscuits are from a Moroccan cookbook called Orange Blossom and Honey by John Gregory Smith. He based them on the biscuits from the Medina and they are absolutely delicious. They are chewy, nutty and macaron like and perfect served with an espresso. They are also dairy and gluten free.
Ingredients
Makes 8 biscuits
- 200g of whole almonds with the skin on
- 100g of icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg, separated
- 30g of flaked almonds
- A pinch of salt
- (I added a teaspoon of vanilla paste to mine because I’m a vanilla freak)
How:
Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Tip the almonds onto the baking tray and roast for six minutes. Leave to cool (I left the oven on at this point).
Put the roasted almonds into a food processor and blitz till they are a powder, about two minutes. Add the icing sugar and baking powder and whizz up till they are mixed together. Add the egg yolk and whizz up again, at this stage it should still look like breadcrumbs. Set aside.
In a big bowl whisk up the egg white with the salt and till it reaches soft peaks. Add the almond mixture and with a wooden spoon, mix together to form a dough. It’s fairly sticky. Divide the dough into 8 balls and place on the baking sheet with enough space for them to spread. You might want to do this with damp fingers if it’s too sticky. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to get golden.
Take out of the oven and leave to cool for a bit then put them on a plate and cool in the fridge, which will make the more chewy. Serve straight away with a strong coffee.
I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl