Cashew Butter Biscuits

 

Butter biscuits and South Indian filter coffee. McVities digestives and English breakfast tea. Every country has its own classic biscuit and hot drink combinations that represent all things comforting, relaxing and familial.

In South India, we love sweet, decadent butter biscuits (also known as vennai biscuits) - they melt in your mouth and they're just perfect for dunking into any hot drink.

As the name suggest though, these biscuits are made with copious amounts of butter and a generous helping of sugar! Not the healthiest of choices by any measure.

We tried our hand at a creating a healthier N&N version and the result were these beauties.

We swapped the traditional butter for creamy cashew butter and swapped out the sugar for dates and maple syrup! We used oat flour to sub in for regular flour, so essentially these golden discs are vegan, refined-sugar free and gluten-free too! 

We threw in a little hint of cardamom and saffron for a South Indian spice hit and combined with the creaminess of the cashews these cookies taste ultra decadent - but they're guilt free as they don't have any of hydrogenated fats and refined sugar!

This tempting treat is plant-based and full of healthy ingredients - we love that we can count all of them on two hands. Nothing artificial or dodgy in here. 

This recipe tastes fabulous raw as well! You can leave out the baking powder and just pour the mixture into a flat dish,set in the fridge for a couple of hours and slice up into energy bars! Or roll up to make a different take on our dry fruit laddoo. We couldn't resist snacking on the mixture before putting it in the oven!

They are super quick to make so go on, make yourself a batch this weekend!

N & N

Makes: ~ 16 cookies
Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews 
• 3/4 cup raw oats
• 1/2 cup pitted dates 
• 2 tbsps maple syrup 
• 4 cardamom pods 
• Generous pinch saffron 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Purée the cashews in a blender until smooth. Scrape down the slides frequently. Put aside in a bowl
3. Using the blender again, puree the dates with the maple syrup. 
4. Break open the cardamom pods and crush the seeds into a powder using a pestle and mortar (or alternatively you can just use cardamom powder for convenience)
5. Blitz the oats in a blender until it forms a fine powder.
6. Add the cashew butter, maple and date mixture, cardamom seed powder, saffron and baking powder into the oat flour and blitz until well combined. Scrape down the sides as the mixture will stick. If the blender keeps getting stuck too often, then pour into a bowl and mix by hand!
7. Shape into walnut sized balls, and place on a baking sheet leaving plenty of space between balls. Flatten slightly and press down with a fork to create ridges for decoration.
8. Bake for approx. 8-10 minutes but monitor the biscuits carefully! They catch very easily and go from golden brown to burnt in the blink of an eye.

Gobble up warm or leave to cool to get a chewy texture.