These vegan abernethy biscuits are an interpretation of a traditional biscuit created by Dr John Abernethy in the 18th Century. They’re flavoured with caraway seeds and have a mild, creamy flavour.
Traditional abernethy biscuits are made with butter. They’re a softer (firm but not crunchy) type of shortbread biscuit. Both the creamy flavour and the distinctive texture are achieved in this vegan version with cashew nuts, ground to a consistency similar to ground almonds.
These are less sweet than many biscuits, and the caraway gives them a healthy aspect as well as a really special flavour. Caraway seeds were included originally as an aid to digestion and their anti-inflammatory digestive properties are still recognised today.
The caraway here is ground to a powder, so that there is a mild flavour (a bit like aniseed but less sharp) throughout.
How sweet they are, and how much caraway and salt you add is a matter of taste, of course. By reducing the sugar a bit and increasing the caraway and/or salt, these become a plain biscuit that works very well with savoury foods.
This recipe will make 18-20 biscuits around 7 cm in diameter.
vegan abernethy biscuits…
ingredients
- 160 g plain white/unbleached flour
- 40 g self-raising white/unbleached flour
- 100 g cashew nuts
- 75 g icing (confectioner’s) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 60 g coconut oil (the flavourless variety)
- 60 g soft vegan margarine
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- optional – a little caster or granulated sugar for sprinkling
method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and line or very lightly oil a suitable baking tray or trays (for up to 20 x 7 cm biscuits).
- Grind the cashew nuts in a suitable grinder/processor until they resemble ground almonds – it won’t matter if there is the odd larger chunk. Place these in a large bowl.
- Add the flours, icing sugar and pinch of salt (perhaps 1/16 tsp) to the cashews.
- Grind the caraway seeds using a small grinder or a pestle and mortar, and add these to the flour mixture. Stir to combine the dry ingredients.
- Soften the coconut oil on a low setting in the microwave until it’s of a similar softness to the margarine, then add both coconut oil and margarine to the dry ingredients.
- Blend, using a pastry blender, or rub with your fingers until the mixture is fully combined, crumbly and beginning to come together as a dough.
- Add the oat milk (I use the ‘full fat’ foamable variety but any will do), and use a fork to bring the mixture together into a ball.
- Transfer to a floured board and roll to a thickness of around 3mm, then cut rounds with a 6.5 cm or similar sized cutter.
- Transfer the biscuits to the tray(s) and prick all over with a fork before baking for around ten minutes. The baking time will vary depending on your oven. Check the biscuits from eight minutes onwards and remove when they are turning golden at the edges but are still pale. They will work either way, but a more golden biscuit will be crisper, a paler biscuit softer.
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and when they are cool enough transfer to a drying rack to finish cooling. While they are warm, sprinkle with sugar if you like – the tiny holes will trap some of the sugar.
- They will store well for a few days in an airtight tin.
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