Wholemeal Spelt, Parmesan and Chilli Biscuits

As much as I love sweet biscuits, there certainly is a place in my life for savoury biscuits too.

I knew I was onto a good thing when I originally made these to share as a “girls drinks night” a couple of weeks ago, and everyone seemed to love them.  At that time I used rye flour as my base, but afterwards I thought that not many people would have rye flour in their pantry, and I do try to offer you recipes that will use items that you may already have.  So I switched to wholemeal spelt flour, but you can use plain wholemeal flour if you have that instead.

I like using brown rice flour for the nutty “crunch” it gives these biscuits, but I have also tested it using white rice flour and cornflour.  The colour of the biscuits will be lighter with the white rice flour and cornflour, but you will still get a nice crisp bite to the biscuit, but not quite as much as when using the brown rice flour (which you can easily get at health food shops and some supermarkets these days).

I use a “medium” heat chilli flake which does give a bit of bite … if you wish to pull that back use 1/2 tsp to start with and then adjust the next time you make them.

I always have milled parmesan cheese in my freezer as I do 500g at a time and store it ready to use as needed.  If you don’t already have any handy, then do this first by placing 100g parmesan cheese, cubed, into the TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9, then continue with the recipe.  (NB:  if you wish to do what I do and have plenty ready to go in the freezer, then mill up to 150g parmesan cheese at a time, place into a container and freeze where it will sit happily for some time … replenish your supplies as it runs out).

I have also tested this recipe by putting the rolled mix into the fridge for just 2 hours to firm up enough to cut and bake, but to be honest I preferred to leave the log overnight so that the mix was really solid and I was able to get a good even slice when cutting into the log.  The mix will stay in the fridge rolled up ready to be cut and baked for up to 3 days.

My family loved these biscuits so they were eaten within a week, but I suspect that they will keep for up to two weeks in the pantry.  I have served these biscuits with a White Costello Soft Cheese (amazing), labne (again amazing), but they are just as delicious served in a bowl on their own … just put them near a cheese platter if you have one and no-one will complain.

Wholemeal Spelt, Parmesan and Chilli Biscuits

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

27 mins

Total time

37 mins

 

I knew I was onto a good thing when I originally made these to share as a "girls drinks night" a couple of weeks ago, and everyone seemed to love them. At that time I used rye flour as my base, but afterwards I thought that not many people would have rye flour in their pantry, and I do try to offer you recipes that will use items that you may already have. So I switched to wholemeal spelt flour, but you can use plain wholemeal flour if you have that instead.

I like using brown rice flour for the nutty "crunch" it gives these biscuits, but I have also tested it using white rice flour and cornflour. The colour of the biscuits will be lighter with the white rice flour and cornflour, but you will still get a nice crisp bite to the biscuit, but not quite as much as when using the brown rice flour (which you can easily get at health food shops and some supermarkets these days).

I use a "medium" heat chilli flake which does give a bit of bite ... if you wish to pull that back use ½ tsp to start with and then adjust the next time you make them.

I always have milled parmesan cheese in my freezer as I do 500g at a time and store it ready to use as needed. If you don't already have any handy, then do this first by placing 100g parmesan cheese, cubed, into the TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9, then continue with the recipe.

Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Serves: 24 to 26 biscuits

Ingredients

• 250g wholemeal spelt flour, or plain wholemeal flour
• 50g brown rice flour, or white rice flour, or cornflour
• 100g milled parmesan
• 150g butter, cold from fridge, cubed
• 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp medium chilli flakes (or less / more to taste)
• ½ tsp cracked black pepper
  
  
• 1 x 60g egg
• 40g olive oil
• 30g apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Place flours, parmesan, butter and seasonings into TM bowl and mix 6 seconds / speed 6
2. Add egg, olive oil and apple cider vinegar and knead 40 to 50 seconds until the mix clumps, and sticks easily together when pressed between your fingers
3. Place a large piece of baking paper onto your bench (I place the baking paper onto a silicon mat as it holds it in position and stops it sliding on my bench top)
4. Upturn the TM bowl over the baking paper and allow the dough to fall onto it
5. Shape the dough into a long sausage approximately 34cm long, rolling it up and down on the baking paper to get a nice round shape
6. Wrap the dough in the baking paper, place onto a tray for easier handling, and chill in the fridge overnight (you will have more even pieces if you allow the dough to become really cold and solid)
7. Next day preheat oven to 170 degrees fan forced, and line a large baking tray with baking paper
8. Cut the dough into 8mm thick slices and place onto the tray
9. Bake 15 minutes, turn tray around and bake a further 10 to 12 minutes until the biscuits are a rich golden colour (it takes exactly 27 minutes in my oven)
10. Remove tray from oven, cool biscuits for 10 minutes on tray before placing onto a cooling rack to cool completely
11. Store in a sealed container for up to two weeks

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