Biscuits were required eating yesterday evening.. sometimes they are just necessary. I have made various versions of these over the years, sometimes with spelt flour sometimes with the addition of different nut butters. It is a flexible recipe. Since i planned to share the recipe I thought I would do my GF version! More egalitarian 🙂

You will need : A couple of bowls, measures and an 8inch pie or cake tin.

Jam Crumble Cookies

• Three and a half dessertspoons of org coconut oil
• Two dessertspoons of a nut or seed butter *
• One dessertspoon of real maple syrup
• Scant half a cup of coconut blossom sugar
• A quarter cup of buckwheat flour
• Two big dessertspoons of gram flour/ cornstarch
• Two thirds of a cup of gluten free flour **
• Almost half a cup of ground almonds
• Two big dessertspoons of fine maize meal
• A good pinch or eighth of a tsp of himalayan pink salt / sea salt
• A dessertspoon of vanilla powder/ paste / extract
• Three to six dessertspoons of almond milk
• Roughly half a cup of no added sugar jam- I used apricot

*I used a sunflower cashew one I had made

**I used a brand called Doves which is a mix of rice, buckwheat, tapioca and potato

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F. Rub a bit of coconut oil on your pie/tart dish or line a metal cake tin with paper.

Grab a bowl and mash your coconut oil and seed / nut butter together. Add in your maple syrup and mash mash mash some more, make sure to press out any lumps of coconut oil that may be hiding in there.

Add in your coconut sugar. Yes you guessed it! More mashing, biscuit exercise, working on that upper body strength! Again make sure it is blended properly so it has all become one colour.

Plop all your flours, the ground almonds, vanilla powder and salt into another bowl. I don’t bother sieving .. but if you are not using gram (chickpea) flour and choosing cornstarch you should sieve the cornstarch alright.

Put your dry ingredients into the wet. It will take a bit of pressing to get them pressed together. If you find it is looking more floury than bread-crumby (see pic) you may need to add a dessertspoon or two of almond milk. Start by sprinkling one spoon of milk over the ingredients and mix and press again. If still dryish add another spoon. It should just hold together when pinched. If you are happy with its crumbliness take a generous half a cup plus a dessertspoonful out and put it aside.

Add another two spoons of almond milk and mix again. It should turn to a doughy texture when you squeeze it with your hand. Grab your prepared pie/ cake tin and press the mixture in – evenly.

Next the jam! Usually half a cup will do but always good to have a spare spoon to make sure the base is properly covered.

Next get the crumble you had set aside. Sprinkle the crumble over the top making sure no jam is visible!

Pop it in the centre of your oven (slightly to left in mine as right side of my oven is hotter!). It took 35min in my fan oven so I ‘reckon it could take 40 in a non fan.

If you used a square tin you could cut little squares but mine is round so it is tart slice style biscuits for me!

Hope you try it or make your own version of it! Xs Aissa

Footnote:

I was inspired by a multitude of jam crumbly recipes when scouring the internet but special kudos mention to “Have Cake will Travel” recipe as inspiration.

It is also lovely made with raspberry or blueberry jam! It is also very easy to make nut free- use a seed butter, use fine maize meal instead of the ground almonds and use a non diary milk not made from nuts! Problem with coconut? Use vegan butter instead of coconut oil and use rapadura / sucucant sugar instead of coconut sugar!