I'll admit now that this one of the simpler recipes I've posted up here. But it's a winner - these versatile and delicious savoury biscuits are easy to make and the flavours can be adjusted to your liking, in order to suit what you're serving with them. The biscuits keep for at least a week in an airtight container so can be made ahead, or they can be served up almost straight away - leaving them for just an hour after they've come out of the oven before eating.
Although this recipe is as simple as they get, you do need to make sure you've got the right flour. I use Sainsburys seeded wholemeal flour, but if you can't get this, you can use just wholemeal flour, or a mixture of wholemeal flour, sunflower seeds, oats, pumpkin seed and linseed (which is what the premixed flour is made from).
Makes about 40-50 biscuits
250g seeded wholemeal flour
60g salted butter
10g olive oil (you can use 70g of butter and no oil if you prefer)
Teaspoon sea salt
5 tbsp water
Herbs and spices - for my last batch I used cumin and fennel seed, but you can use dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage depending on the final taste you want
Preheat the oven to 175C.
Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Chop the butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Add the olive oil. Rub the butter and oil into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and spices/herbs at this point. In the last batch I made I used a level teaspoon of fennel seed and the same of cumin seeds, with a tiny pinch of ground cumin, as these flavours worked well with the spiced tomato chutney I served with my cheese course.
Next add the water, bit by bit, mixing each time. I add 2 tablespoons to start then a tablespoon at a time until it's all incorporated into the mix. Don't over work the dough as the biscuits will be chewy if you do, just mix it enough that all the ingredients are bound together.
Lightly flour a large surface and tip your dough out. Roll the rolling pin in the floured surface and start rolling out your dough. You want it to end up as thin as possible - although it may break a little around the larger seeds, don't worry about this, just roll it out as much as you can. I use a heart shaped cutter to make my biscuits but you can use whatever you have, and if you don't have any cutters, just use a knife to make squares or rectangles. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and put the cut out biscuits onto this. You'll probably need to do 3-4 batches, but you can cook 2 batches at the same time if you have 2 baking trays.
Cook the biscuits at 175C for 15 minutes. At this point check how they are doing - lift one up and tap the bottom. If it's hard, then they're done, if it's a little damp/soft then put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the biscuits with sea salt and leave to cool before transferring to an airtight container. Eat with cheese, chutneys, pates or whatever you like! And once you realise how easy they are to make, you won't want shop bought biscuits again!
Although this recipe is as simple as they get, you do need to make sure you've got the right flour. I use Sainsburys seeded wholemeal flour, but if you can't get this, you can use just wholemeal flour, or a mixture of wholemeal flour, sunflower seeds, oats, pumpkin seed and linseed (which is what the premixed flour is made from).
Makes about 40-50 biscuits
250g seeded wholemeal flour
60g salted butter
10g olive oil (you can use 70g of butter and no oil if you prefer)
Teaspoon sea salt
5 tbsp water
Herbs and spices - for my last batch I used cumin and fennel seed, but you can use dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage depending on the final taste you want
Preheat the oven to 175C.
Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Chop the butter into small cubes and add to the flour. Add the olive oil. Rub the butter and oil into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the salt and spices/herbs at this point. In the last batch I made I used a level teaspoon of fennel seed and the same of cumin seeds, with a tiny pinch of ground cumin, as these flavours worked well with the spiced tomato chutney I served with my cheese course.
Next add the water, bit by bit, mixing each time. I add 2 tablespoons to start then a tablespoon at a time until it's all incorporated into the mix. Don't over work the dough as the biscuits will be chewy if you do, just mix it enough that all the ingredients are bound together.
Lightly flour a large surface and tip your dough out. Roll the rolling pin in the floured surface and start rolling out your dough. You want it to end up as thin as possible - although it may break a little around the larger seeds, don't worry about this, just roll it out as much as you can. I use a heart shaped cutter to make my biscuits but you can use whatever you have, and if you don't have any cutters, just use a knife to make squares or rectangles. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking tray and put the cut out biscuits onto this. You'll probably need to do 3-4 batches, but you can cook 2 batches at the same time if you have 2 baking trays.
Cook the biscuits at 175C for 15 minutes. At this point check how they are doing - lift one up and tap the bottom. If it's hard, then they're done, if it's a little damp/soft then put them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the biscuits with sea salt and leave to cool before transferring to an airtight container. Eat with cheese, chutneys, pates or whatever you like! And once you realise how easy they are to make, you won't want shop bought biscuits again!
