Lemon, Poppy Seed and Marzipan Biscuits. Wheat-Free.

Continuing on the wheat-free theme, yesterday I decided to have a go at making biscuits.  However, if you start googling 'wheat-free recipes' you are bombarded with a plethora of unbelievably random and no doubt impossible-to-find ingredients.  Given that we are just experimenting with a wheat-free life I'm not up for trying to find tapioca flour or xantham gum or or... So instead, here is an accessible and delicious lemony-almondy-crumbly biscuit recipe using polenta and rice flour.

Ok, so rice flour maybe on the random side of normal household ingredients but a packet  has been sitting unloved in the back of the larder for weeks thanks to a brief flourish of dim sum making.  Nonetheless, given how delicious these little biscuits are, like my wheat-free chocolate and peanut butter cake, I recommend you go out and buy a packet.  Serve these little biscuit treats with a cuppa or alongside strawberries for a summery pudding.

Ingredients (makes 10)

90 g caster sugar
125 g polenta
50 g rice flour
85 g unsalted butter, softened
1 lemon, zest and juice of half
1 free range egg
1 vanilla pod
10 g poppy seeds
50 g marzipan

Method

1. Mix the sugar, polenta, flour and poppy seeds together in a bowl.

Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the lemon zest and juice.
3. Make a well in the centre and add the egg and the seeds scraped from the inside of the vanilla pod.

Place the seedless pod in a jar, fill with caster sugar and cover with a lid.  Allow to sit for a week and use in baking or with fresh fruit - top up as you go for a constant source of vanilla sugar.

4. Mix the egg and vanilla pod seeds into the mixture.
5. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and divide the dough into 10 balls.  Place a piece of the marzipan in the centre of each ball and cover over, rolling in between your palms until smooth.

Place on the baking tray in the fridge for 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes in the oven.  Remove and allow to cool on the tray.

Delicious with a cup of tea. Yum yum.