

I really don’t understand why anyone would choose to put pieces of stale fruity tasting cardboard into their mouths, or buy into the whole ‘breakfast’ biscuit thing, although I do see the allure of having biscuits for breakfast.
I’m not a big breakfast eater. I don’t have the stomach or the appetite for a cooked meal, I don’t eat cereal and I don’t like the way things like cold yoghurt feel like in my mouth with the boiling hot tea which is what I really look forward to when I wake up.
That’s why biscuits are the perfect solution when I am feeling a little peckish in the morning or I know that my day will be hectic and I need to have something in my belly to keep me going until the next time I can eat. There is always a packet of dark chocolate Digestives in the house because they are my partner’s biscuits of choice, and I do have a couple sometimes with my cuppa in the morning. But to be honest, they don’t really satisfy me and I’d rather have a home made biscuit any day. This is what I had in mind when I made these yesterday.
It took me about 15 minutes from start to oven and I only had the food processor bowl to wash up when I was done which puts them right at the top of the ‘easy’ list. Plus, they are full of nuts and tahini (sesame paste) which means lots of protein and half of the flour is wholegrain spelt if that in any way concerns you.
But really, they taste divine and I’d happily eat them whatever they’re made with because I can safely bet my bottom dollar that the ingredient list in my home made biscuits will be shorter and less chemical than the Belvita one. In a recent Which? article called Are Breakfast Biscuits A Good Start To The Day? author and senior food researcher Shefalee Loth says:
“In my opinion if you want a biscuit for breakfast then eat one, but don’t kid yourself it’s a healthy option.”
So, to the recipe. It is adapted from the fab food blogger David Lebovitz. I made the classic mistake of deciding to bake these without checking that I had all the ingredients so I improvised with what I had, substituting wholemeal flour for wholemeal spelt and ground almonds for ground walnuts. The result is great. They are crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth and reminiscent of the Middle Eastern sweet halva which I grew up with. A winner all round!
Tahini ‘Breakfast’ Biscuits
Makes about 30 biscuits
Ingredients
- 140 g all-purpose flour
- 140 g whole wheat spelt flour
- (or total 280 g of any combination of any flour: wholemeal, white, spelt, half and half…)
- 70 g ground walnuts/almonds/hazelnuts
- 150 g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 150 g sugar (caster, soft brown, coconut blossom)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 200 g raw tahini paste
Method
1) Pre heat your oven to 180C (My oven is fan and is ‘cool’. As in any baking recipe, adjust temp and time to your oven. If in doubt go for a lower temp and a longer cooking time).
2) Blitz your walnuts in a food processor until finely ground then stick all the other dry ingredients with the butter in and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs.
3) Add the vanilla extract, water and tahini and blitz again until you get a smooth dough.
4) Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and knead a few times until smooth. If it’s too dry, wet your hands under running water and knead. If it’s too wet add a little flour and knead again.
5) Tear walnut sized pieces of dough off, roll into balls and then flatten with the your hand or the back of a fork if you like patterns.
6) Place on a parchment lined sheet leaving about 3cm between each biscuit and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool a few minutes then transfer onto a wire rack.
7) Enjoy with a cuppa in the morning – or in the afternoon, or for lunch… or whenever!
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22 Comments. Leave new
The smell of these as I mixed them was amazing, as I baked almost too good to imagine! Can’t wait til they are done to get to eat them 😉
I used dairy free Pure, doves farm plain flour and oatmeal as I choose not to eat dairy or wheat as they make me feel rubbish! (in past would have said ‘can’t’, and then binged on them anyway!), added an extra glug of vanilla, some cinammon and dried fruit.
Like you I struggle to do breakfast, am never very hungry and hate or find traditional breakfast foods make me feel unwell, so thanks for an incredible solution to breakfast time!
Love the way you have totally gone for making them your own. How is breakfast going? I am really enjoying having a few every morning. I want to have another go with more walnut and more tahini. And maybe some very finely chopped dates. You’ve inspired me!
They are great, enjoy them with a strawberry or a chocolate soy milk and am happy to eat breakfast now! Going to do some next week with chocolate chips and see how they come out!
Brilliant. Let me know how the chocolate goes, that sounds delicious.
I have a batch of these (sans walnuts.. ooops!) in the oven. They smell divine. I have some dark mini-chocolate chips in the cupboard… I’ll try making these with choc.-chips next time! (and walnuts!)
Choc chip and walnuts sound divine – I am having a go at these sometime this week, Ruth!
Just to echo above: they are great (used almonds too as no walnuts and organic whole meal instead of spelt) and last well. Thanks
Glad you like them Rosy, I need to make more!
Ok, so we’ve tasted them and LOVE them!
I love how fast they go, how little stuff I have to wash up, and that my kids can help me make them. They love using the mixer and making balls of crumbly dough. Ours was crumbly so we just smooshed little handfulls of dough together until it stuck, then flattened them in our hands and placed them on the tray. As they cooled, they were firmer. They remind me a little bit of a Spanish “polvoron”, but without the cold, greasy feel of the lard. Yummy…. Sesame seeds are little powerhouses. So much better than a whole bunch of synthetic vitamins mixed in a fat-free or low-frankenstein-fat dry cookie.
Brilliant Ruth. Love that you made them with the kids! Enjoy.
This week am trying 2 different combos, pistachio, tahini and choc chunk (using ground pistachios instead of the spelt flour), and almond and cinammon choc chunk (using almond butter rather than tahini, almond essence rather than vanilla). Will let you know how they go! Am loving these biscuits and making them is a real pleasure too. Thanks Audrey 😉
Well I actually made them with proper butter this week, and rather than being ‘biscuity’ like they were last week they have spread out more like a cookie this week. Still smell fab, and sure they will taste great but these combos may need a little more work!!!
Forgot the salt! Think that may be what went wrong 😉
Wow, pistachio and choc chunk sounds amazing. Will defo have a go at those Roly. How did the almond butter do? Keep us posted, we can develop a whole ‘range’ – just like Belvita 🙂
Flavour of both were fantastic, but forgot the salt so they both spread a bit, going to try another batch today with salt this time!! Definitely going to do both flavours again. May try the original recipe with honey rather than sugar next week for a truly turkish feel!
This weeks use dark muscovado sugar as was all I had, choc chips, tahini and almond butter as didn’t have enough of either but together was perfect, ground almonds, mixed spice as had run out of cinammon on it’s own and oatmeal again. Will let you know how they come out!!
That sounds so delicious How did the y go? Roly, I’m going to try that. Love the mix of brown sugar with the tahini and almond butter!
Really well – but needed a little less cooking time as mine came out a little overdone – very very yummy though!
This weeks attempt is a double chocolate version – gluten free flour, gluten free oatmeal instead of spelt flour, ground almonds instead of walnuts, dairy free spread instead of butter, vanilla, tahini etc as usual – but with choc chips, a generous couple of spoons of good cocoa and some ground ginger. Am very excited, sure they will be amazing!!
Oh and muscovado sugar as had no normal stuff (and it worked so well last time)!!!
Mmmm…. best yet!!!
That sounds delicious Roly, love all the experimenting that you have done with these. Send me your best recipe and we will publish it on the blog!