Honey and Almond Biscuits

Last year I tried my hand for the first time at a nearly flourless chocolate cake, which incorporated a healthy abundance of ground almonds. The cake itself was good, but, I felt, needed tweaking and refining before it would be blog-worthy. So I bought various ingredients intending to try my hand at it again but somehow never got round to it. Various other uses for the unopened bag of ground almonds bought for attempt number two at the cake flitted across my mind but it wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that I finally tried making something with the ground almonds – a something which was nothing like the chocolatey, sugar-laden visions that had filled my ground almond day dreams. These honey and almond biscuits were a bit of an experiment, which actually turned out pretty tasty…and with the psychological bonus that they must be better for me than other biscuits as they are sweetened with honey rather than sugar (at least that was my rather unconvincing rationale as I reached for a fourth second one). These biscuits are quite chewy in the middle and will last for a few days in an airtight tin. This recipe makes about 20 biscuits. The cup measurements are based on a 250 ml mug as equivalent to one full cup.

What you’ll need:

1/2 cup self-raising flour

2 cups ground almonds

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup honey

1 egg

What to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 (180º C or 350º F) and either grease a baking sheet or line it with greaseproof paper.

2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl (imagine the photo for this stage…), add the almonds and cinnamon to the bowl and mix together thoroughly with a wooden spoon or spatula.

3. Add the honey to the flour, almonds and cinnamon and mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You may find it easier to deal with the sticky honey if you fill the mug with boiling water, leave it for a minute or so and then empty it of the water (thereby heating the mug) before measuring the honey – the heat will help it to slide out of the mug and into the bowl more easily.

4. Add the egg to the honey/flour/almond/cinnamon mixture and mix together thoroughly until the mixture comes together into a dough.

5. Scoop out teaspoonfuls of the dough, shape into balls (this can be a sticky process) and then place each ball about an inch apart on the prepared baking tray.

6. Dip a fork in a little bit of extra flour and then press the fork into one of the balls to flatten it slightly. Repeat for every ball of dough, dipping the fork into the flour each time, to prevent the dough sticking to the fork.

7. Bake in the middle of the pre-heated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before eating.