These gluten free cookies are lovely to have for when friends drop around for a cup of tea, for the school lunchbox, a little snack at work or for something to munch when watching a movie – they are an adaptation on my lovely friend Gail’s recipe and they are lovely, light and very yummy and crunchy!

This recipe makes about 24 small biscuits.

Ingredients:

200ml egg whites, approximately 6 egg whites
1 cup almond meal
1 cup hazelnut meal
1 cup desiccated coconut, sugar and preservative free
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180℃ and line with baking paper.

In a big glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites till light and fluffy. You don’t need to get to the meringue stiffness, just make sure there’s no liquid left in the bowl.

Add all the other ingredients and combine well. The mixture needs to be sticky but not wet. If you need to add more dry ingredients, add extra coconut or nut meal.

At this stage you can add anything else you feel to – chopped dried fruit, orange or lemon zest – make them your own!

Using disposable gloves, take small amounts and roll into balls. Place them on the tray and press down so they are flat and 1cm thick and a little bit home-made and rustic!

Bake for 25 minutes till golden. Remove from the oven and reduce oven heat to 160oC. Allow biscuits to cool then put them back into the oven for another 30 minutes. The biscuits are great after the first baking time but are a little ‘cakey’ for me – I like them more like biscotti which is why I put them in for the second round.

You can choose how you like them!!

For a more polished look to the cookies, I’m just feeling that the next time I make them, I’m going to roll the mixture into a sausage shape in cling film and refrigerate it so it’s firmer … then I could cut it with a knife for lovely sharp edges hahaha!

with love, Sarah