This is a biscuit my Mum often made to have at home for guests. I always thought it was a bit of a special biscuit because I knew when she pulled them out there were friends coming round to visit. This recipe is fairly simple and it produces a crunchy biscuit that will have you wanting to go back for more. It is a great one to serve up with coffee or tea and my husband especially likes it as it's the perfect biscuit for dipping.
This biscuit is best stored in a tin container as this helps it to stay crunchy and fresh for a lot longer. It makes about 60 biscuits so you may need a big tin to store them all or you could always half the batch. We had a few people from our testing team suggest making the batch of biscuits up, rolling them out and just freezing them before cooking. This way if you don't want to cook them all up at once you could still make the big batch and store some for later.
I hope you will enjoy the recipe!
INGREDIENTS
400g almonds, pistachios or nut preference
190g unsalted butter
2 eggs
160g brown sugar
250g white sugar
190g pure cream
30g brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
700g self raising flour
STEPS
- Dry roast almonds (400g) for 8 minutes/100 degrees/speed 1.
- Take the lid off to allow the nuts to cool slightly. Then use turbo for 2 seconds to chop them a little. Set aside.
- Add butter (190g) and soften if not already soft for 1 minute/60 degrees/speed 3.
- Scrape down sides, add cream (190g), eggs (2), brown sugar (160g) and white sugar (250g) to the bowl. Mix for 10 seconds/speed 5.
- Add all other ingredients except flour: brandy (30g), vanilla (1 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp) and mix 30 seconds/speed 6.
- Add flour (700g) and mix again 10 seconds/speed 6. Scrape down and repeat twice.
- Scrape mixture into a bowl to rest for 20 minutes. It will be very sticky at this stage.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees, fan forced.
- After the dough has rested, scoop up 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into nut mixture. Shape it into a log whist coating it in nuts. Before placing it on the tray, bend it a little to make a U shape.
- Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let them cool on tray before moving them.
- Once all biscuits are cooked, turn the oven off but put all biscuits back into the warm oven so they can harden. Keep them in there until the oven completely cools.
NOTES
- You can substitute half the almonds for pistachios or another nut of preference.
- Half the batch if you have a bowl that is smaller than 2.2L.
- Store biscuits in an airtight preferably tin container as this helps keeps them crunchy and fresher for longer.
