Belvita Breakfast Biscuits – eat your heart out

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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