Crunchy and chewy, the OMG biscuit combo, with a lovely tang of dried apricots and double nuttiness of peanuts and almonds.
Take a trip down memory lane with these sweet, nutty and crunchy biscuits. The smell as they cook reminds me of my mum’s baking – that gorgeous smell of home baking that would greet you as you opened the door on coming home after school. Make sure to cut the slice before it sets!
Ingredients
—50g (1¾ oz) self-raising flour 125g (4½ oz) standard flour Pinch of salt 200g (7 oz) caster (superfine granulated) sugar 150g (5 oz) dried apricots 2 Tbsp shredded coconut 70g (2½ oz) unskinned raw almonds, chopped 50g raw, shelled peanuts, chopped 125g (4½ oz) butter, melted
Method
—1 Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F). Put apricots in a small bowl and cover generously with boiling water. Soak until the water is tepid. Strain apricots in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the soaking liquid. Wrap apricots in paper towels to absorb excess water, then chop coarsely.
2 Sift flours and salt into a mixing bowl and stir in sugar, coconut, almonds, peanuts and apricots. Mix in melted butter. Transfer to a shallow Swiss roll tin (jelly roll pan) approx. 32cm x 22cm (choose something around 12-13“ x 8-9 “), lined with baking (parchment) paper. Press down gently until evenly spread.
3 Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden on top and around the edges. Remove tray from the oven and cool for 5 minutes, then cut into 24 pieces. Cool, then store in an airtight container.
Recipe Notes
The ingredients were a tad tricky to change from metric to imperial in this recipe, but the thing to watch for is how the mixture holds together once mixed. Grab a small lump and gently press together – if it holds together, you’re good to go. If it is wet, add a little more flour. If it is dry, add a little soaking water from the apricots (use leftover soaking liquid in porridge or on cereal).
If your apricots are very dry, you may need to soak them for longer until they are tender.
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- Press mixture into tin – it should be lumpy and bumpy but hold together.
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- Cook until golden on top and around the edges.
Have just made these to take to a morning tea tomorrow. As we have a coeliac member, I used gluten free four and prayed the crusties wouldn’t crumble . They didn’t! They were fabulous with a great texture and loads of flavour. A triumph!
That’s great to know, thanks Toni. Would you mind to give the name of the gluten-free flour so we can recommend it?
Made this tonight and it went down a treat. I couldn’t find blanched almonds so substituted with cashews instead. I dropped the sugar content slightly and added in some chocolate.
Will definitely make again!
They sound great additions! I’ve found the biscuits keep for about 2 weeks (maybe even longer) … it’s hard not to eat them to see how long they really would last!
Made these finally … my scales needed new batteries so got that sorted. Made the Chrusties using imperial measures – worked perfectly and tasted and smelt great .
Thanks Louise. Recipes on Shared Kitchen work in either measurements, as long and you don’t mix them up (even then, they sometimes work!).