I am known for being the biggest flour geek (hah) and I really couldn’t hide one bit of my excitement when I first took a bite of one of these biscuits (yeh ok fine. I chucked like twenty of them in my mouth like I’d never seen a biscuit before). It’s because shortbread is the first thing I’ve baked from scratch in my life and these are like shortbread but taken to the next level. There’s no gluten in sight, just this boatload of protein that is lupin flour which I got from a health food store in Italy, and almonds and this delicious subtle hint of banana. Shall we then mention the creamiest ever creamy banana & almond butter filling. Hello, my name is Iz and I am the bearer of joy a.k.a. crumbly creamy vegan gluten-free banana biscuits.
100g (1 cup) lupin flour
100g (heaped 1 cup) ground almonds
60g (1/2 cup) rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
140g (3/4 cup) coconut oil
1 small over-ripe banana, mashed
175g (3/4 cup) unrefined golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Banana cream filling:
2 medium bananas
60g (1/4 cup) almond butter
20g (1/4 cup) ground almonds
Start by making the banana cream filling.
Cut the banana into chunks, blitz in a blender until smooth, add the almond
butter and blend again until well combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the
ground almonds. Transfer to the fridge whilst you make the biscuits.
In a large bowl mix together lupin flour,
ground almonds, rice flour and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl cream together
coconut oil, banana, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffly. Add the
dry ingredients a bit at a time, mixing each time until you get a nice smooth dough. Place
in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
In the meantime preheat the oven to 160°C
(320°F) and line two trays with baking paper. Roll out the chilled dough until
it’s 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thick. Cut into squares or rounds using a cookie cutter
and place on the trays. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown, then
transfer to a cooling rack.
When completely cool, assemble the biscuits
– spread or pipe the banana cream evenly onto each biscuit, then sandwich another
one on top.