These are easy to make cinnamon and ginger spiced biscuits, delicious any time of year but we’ve shaped them with a festive theme.
The spiced biscuits are gluten-free and vegan. The royal icing we’ve made is also vegan, now we just need to practise our piping skills!
Makes about 16 depending on the size of cutters used
Prep 20 minutes + 30 minutes chill in the fridge
Cooking time 10-12 minutes
Ingredients
180g ground almonds
40g gluten-free plain flour
30g dates, de-stoned
30g dried apricots
85ml maple syrup
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Vegan royal icing for decorating
45ml aquafaba, whisked (water from a tin of chickpeas)
250g icing sugar
Method
Add the dried apricots and de-stoned dates to a food processor and blend until they combine and become a paste. Then add the ground almonds, flour and spices. Blitz in the processor until the paste combines together with the dry ingredients.
Pour in the maple syrup and blend again until it forms a dough. Turn the biscuit dough out of the food processor, form into a ball and place in a bowl.
Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a piece of baking paper until about 4mm thick. Cut into shapes with cutters, such as trees, snowflakes and hearts. Transfer the biscuits to the baking tray, leaving a little room for them to spread.
Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Cool for a few minutes on the baking tray before carefully transferring the biscuits to a wire rack. Cool completely before icing.
Before making the royal icing, drain the aquafaba through a sieve into a bowl. Chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or overnight.
To prepare the royal icing
Weigh out 45ml of aquafaba. Use a standing mixer with a whisk attachment and pour the aquafaba into the food mixer bowl. Set the whisk to a high speed and whisk until the aquafaba has turned to stiff white peaks. Gradually and carefully add the icing sugar and whisk again, on a low setting, until thoroughly combined.
Spoon the royal icing into a piping bag, making sure to use a narrow piping nozzle.
When the biscuits are completely cool, decorate each with the royal icing.
Store in an airtight container and eat within 3-4 days.
