I’ve experimented a lot with gluten-free, vegan baking over the last few years and love the exciting plethora of textures and experiences that can be created. It all depends on how you use the ingredients available to you.

This biscuit is all about its ‘melt-in-the-mouth’ texture and it’s gorgeous taste.

It holds together exceedingly well – when cooled to room temperature – but, a word of caution: it is really important that you let it cool down before you dive in – so you’ll need to tell every one to ‘keep off’ and be patient (which isn’t always easy when the whole kitchen floods with that incredible aroma) and eyes begin to feast on your lovely plate full of goodness.

If you prefer a chewy, crunchy biscuit however, then this one is probably not for you.

Gluten-free flours rice and tapioca flour

Rice flour is easy to find in any health food store these days. I use brown rice flour, although white works too.

Tapioca flour is the other important flour here. It is also called tapioca starch. In fact, in England where I live, to add to the confusion, the packet I often use says ‘tapioca flour’ BUT I strongly suspect that actually tapioca starch (similar in consistency to corn starch).

Luckily, you can use tapioca flour or tapioca starch interchangeably, so it doesn’t really matter which one you use.

Naturally sweetened

I am using a little maple syrup and coconut sweetened chocolate chips in this recipe. As sweeteners go, these are healthier for you than regular refined sugar.

However, if you don’t have these, by all means, try substituting with rice syrup or another similar ‘syrup-type’ sweetener. You can also buy regular dairy-free chocolate chips or get a bar of chocolate and chop it into tiny chocolate crop sized pieces.

How to work with the mixture

One of the tricks to getting this recipe right is to ‘not’ make it too moist. So you aren’t going to end up with a ball of dough (as you might do with traditional wheat flour and butter biscuits). Once you’ve thoroughly mixed all of the ingredients together, you will will know that you have the right consistency if it sticks together when you press it together with your fingers.

You’ll need a container lined with parchment paper. I used a container that is approximately 13cm x 18cm (5 1/2 x 7 inches) in size. I prefer using a pyrex, baking dish. Glass works really well to help the heat spread evenly. You could also use a large loaf tin or a round tart tin with a pop out bottom. Just bear in mind that if your pressed, biscuit mixture is deeper in size in the baking dish (i.e. as it would be in a smaller container), then it will take longer to bake and perhaps not come out quite the same as if it were a little less deep. So aim roughly for the dimensions that I am suggesting.

You’ll need to compact the mixture down very firmly. This is essential, so that it doesn’t crumble.

The other important thing will be to score out your biscuits BEFORE you bake it (see photos that follow). You’ll need a sharp knife and to cut it all the way though. It may crumble slightly at this stage – just press down anything that loosens.

Here are the chocolate drops that I used in this recipe

I am vegan, so I only ever use dairy-free chocolate. I also prefer not to ever use regular refined sugar, opting for healthier alternatives. The reason I particularly LOVE these chocolate drops (purchased from Scotland) is that they use coconut sugar instead of the nasty refined regular sugar that we normally see in chocolate. They are also organic. Yay!

Chocolate Drops made with coconut sugar (UK)

OK let’s make these melt in the mouth biscuits together…

Melt in the mouth chocolate chip vanilla biscuits - gluten-free vegan Yield: 12 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes A melt-in- the-mouth gluten-free vegan biscuit with chocolate chips. A delicious vanilla flavour and using maple syrup to sweeten. Print Ingredients 150g rice flour (1 cup approximately)

100g tapioca flour (or tapioca starch) ( 4/5 cup approximately)

100g dairy-free chocolate chips ( 2/3 cup approximately)

4 tablespoons maple syrup

6 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract Instructions Please note: cup measurements above are approximate. I use kitchen scales to measure for accuracy. Pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 (350F or 180C). Add the rice flour, tapioca flour and chocolate chips to a mixing bowl. Melt the coconut oil. Add the maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla extract to the bowl and thoroughly mix all ingredients together. You can mix with the back of a metal spoon (a mixing and then pressing down motion) or with your hands, but be sure to mix everything together thoroughly. You aren't going to end up with a ball of dough (as you might do with traditional wheat flour and butter biscuits). Once you've thoroughly mixed all of the ingredients together, you will will know that you have the right consistency if it sticks together when you press it together with your fingers. Line an oven-proof dish (I use size 13cm x 18cm or 5 1/2 in x 7 in approximately) with parchment paper. Glass works really well to help the heat spread evenly, but anything oven-proof will work. You could also use a large loaf tin or a round tart tin with a pop out bottom. Just bear in mind that if your pressed, biscuit mixture is deeper (i.e. as it would be in a smaller container) during baking, it will take longer to bake and perhaps not come out quite the same as if it were a little less deep. So aim roughly for the dimensions that I am suggesting. Compact the mixture down very firmly. This is essential, so that it doesn't crumble. IMPORTANT: Before you pop them in the oven, score your biscuits (see photo above). This is hard to do once baked! You'll need a sharp knife and to cut it all the way though. It may crumble slightly at this stage - just press anything that loosens back down. I cut mine into 12 biscuits. If you want bigger biscuits just cut into fewer pieces. Bake on the top shelf of your pre-heated oven for between 20 & 25 minutes (this depends on your oven). When baked, use the parchment paper to take them out and pop them onto a cooling rack. Allow them to fully cool down before you tease them apart (you've already cut them into pieces before baking) and serve. If you eat them before cooling, then they will probably crumble.



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