Gluten and/or lactose intolerance is a common issue, but finding tasty recipes to meet these needs can be a real struggle. This recipe was specifically created to fill this void, using a blend of gluten-free flours to make these delicious and inviting gluten-free biscuits with jam.
They sell ready-made gluten-free flour mixes, but I decided to make my own flour mix to ensure that it was both rich in taste and suitable for coeliacs. In addition to the more traditional rice and buckwheat flours, I chose to use fine cornmeal and chestnut flour to give the biscuits a unique taste and a nice crispy texture.
To satisfy even the sweetest tooth, I added a jam filling to create my own take on Occhi di Bue biscuits. If you need to make a gluten-free and lactose-free dessert, or just want to bake something light and tasty, these gluten-free biscuits with jam are perfect for you!
I always recommend that you check the labels of all your ingredients to make sure they are gluten- and lactose-free. Let’s see how these delicious biscuits come together in just a few minutes.
Ingredients for 6 people
- 3 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 40 grams of hazelnut flour
- 50 grams of buckwheat flour
- 50 grams of fine cornmeal
- 50 grams of chestnut flour
- 50 grams of rice flour
- 80 grams of brown sugar
- 40 grams of sunflower oil
- 1 egg
- water as needed
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- jam of your choice as needed
Preparation
1. Pour all the dry ingredients into a bowl, that is the rice flour, fine cornmeal, buckwheat flour, hazelnut flour, chestnut flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and the baking powder and mix. Add the sunflower oil in the centre and mix with your hands, incorporating it with the other ingredients to create a sandy mixture.
2. Add the beaten egg and knead until you get a dough similar to shortcrust pastry. If it is too dry, add a few tablespoons of water. Because they don’t contain any butter, these biscuits do not need to rest and can be worked immediately. However, if you prefer a mixture that is easier to handle, you can let it rest in the fridge for half an hour. Then place the biscuit mixture on a floured surface.
3.Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and cut out some biscuits using Occhi di Bue or jammy dodger cutters. If you don’t have the special cutters, you can simply cut out your favourite shapes in pairs and make a window in one using a smaller cutter: even a cup should work fine. Place the biscuit with the window over the whole one and fill it with a teaspoon of jam in the centre. Bake the gluten-free biscuits in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for about 12 minutes.
Once cooled, you can serve your gluten-free biscuits with jam as an original and healthy snack or enjoy at breakfast.
Tips and tricks
- If you prefer, you can also add the jam immediately after baking.
- If you like your biscuits without jam, you can simply dip them in brown sugar before baking them or sprinkle them with icing sugar after baking.
- If you do not have one of the flours used in this recipe, you can replace it with another gluten-free flour, such as corn flour, tapioca flour, quinoa flour, or whatever you prefer.
