0 Chickpea and almond biscuits - naturally gluten free

I have come to the conclusion that gluten free biscuits and cookies are pretty easy and I really can't see any reason to buy the overpriced ones you see in stores. This recipe uses besan flour or chickpea flour (garbanzo to our American friends) as its base combined with ground almonds, the resultant biscuit is deliciously crunchy with a slight nutty flavour, you can add spice or flavourings to your delicious biscuit.

Besan flour is available in the ethnic area of the supermarket or at specialist stores, just watch out for added ingredients if you need it gluten free. Chickpea flour is one of the cheaper naturally gluten free flours and is used frequently in Asian cuisine.

What you need

• 1 cup of ground almonds
• 1 cup of chickpea flour (besan)
• 3/4 cup soft light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (or if diary free coconut oil)
• 1 egg yolk (large egg)
• 1 1/2 tsp of your chosen spice ( cinnamon is nice)

What you do 

• Preheat the oven to 180c
• Line 2 baking trays with a silicone sheet or baking parchment.
• Mix all the ingredients except the egg in a mixing bowl until the fat is rubbed in.
• Add the egg yolk and combine.
• Form ball of the mixture using your hands and press down on the prepared baking sheet
• Bake for approx 15 minutes until golden and starting to firm
• Cool initially on the baking sheet and then fully cool on a wire rack, the biscuits will firm up on cooling.

Detail: Chickpea and almond biscuits - naturally gluten free

0 Spiced apple chickpea cake

Recently I have been experimenting with cake recipes that are naturally gluten free or are made with alternative flours or no flour at all. I have previously dabbled with cakes made with chickpeas and beans previously including one that ended up being featured in The Clandestine Cake club cook book and they turned out well. The gluten free chocolate cake is of particular note , the link is here.

This recipe is based on the same basic recipe but I fancied including grated apples and spices to provide a fruity flavour in place of the chocolate plus I have bought a lot of apples recently as I am also planning on having a go at using apple sauce / puree as a butter alternative in baking so watch out for that post too.

Chickpeas or garbanzo beans (as our friends across the pond call them) are used as the flour substitute yet you still get some rise, the recipe is also lower fat as it has no added oils or butters. The cake is lovely and moist and is great served on its own or as a dessert if served with cream, custard or yogurt. You would never know it contains chickpeas at all, plus it smells amazing whilst baking all cosy and comforting.

What you need

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 cup of caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp lebucken spice (I used Steenbergs but you can come up with your own spice mix, may be incorporating cinnamon, cloves, ginger or what ever else takes your fancy)
• A couple of cox apples - grated keep the skin on 
• Lemon rind

What you do

• Grease a square cake tin roughly 9" by 9"
• Pre heat your oven to 180C
• Pulse the chickpeas in a food processor until they become a fine paste , now pulse in the rest of the ingredients.
• Pour the mix into your prepared tin, don't be alarmed the mixture will be very runny
• Bake for at least 45 minutes until golden, set and risen. Test with a skewer to make sure its cooked through
• Cool fully on a wire rack
• Cut into squares and store in an airtight tin for a couple of days if it lasts that long

Detail: Spiced apple chickpea cake