Recipe: Christmas biscuits with fonio, dates and almonds

Not your average Christmas biscuits! Try these vegan biscuits made with dates, almonds and fonio, an ancient millet variety. Recipe by Sandra & Alex, www.mein-kraeuterkeller.de

Fonio is the main ingredient in these cookies. It's an ancient staple food from Africa. In botanical terms, fonio is a type of finger millet. Finely ground fonio is wonderful for baking. It has a sweet, nutty taste and a slightly grainy texture. This recipe gets its sweetness from the dates without using granulated sugar.

Ingredients

• 200 g fonio, freshly ground
• 100 g cashews, finely ground (as a butter substitute)
• 100 g chopped dates
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 50 g chopped almonds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• 75 ml plant-based milk, we use almond milk
• Almonds for decorating

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 170°C (top/bottom heat).
2. Use a coffee grinder or a powerful blender to grind the fonio into a fine flour.
3. Now prepare the dough. In a large bowl, combine the freshly ground fonio flour, ground cashews, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
4. Cut open the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and add them to the flour mixture.
5. Fold the chopped dates and almonds into the flour mixture.
6. Now gradually stir in the plant-based milk until you have a soft dough.
7. Either shape the dough into small balls and flatten them slightly or roll out the dough on a floured work surface and cut out biscuits using biscuit cutters.
8. Decorate each biscuit by lightly pressing an almond into the dough.
9. Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
10. Remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

The biscuits are best enjoyed with a cup of tea or hot chocolate. Store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh and flavourful for several days.