Wholegrain dunking biscuits
grownandgathered
This is all about home. Chocolate coated wholegrain spelt and oat biscuits, that are the best for dunking into any form of beverage – tea, coffee, milk, or even wine. Breakfast, a snack, or dessert.
As you may know, we have officially moved into our new home. To be honest, it is still half unpacked, and there is an air of chaos as we renovate. But it’s the best. We absolutely love it – we have an office, a studio, a home, and a farm. And in the past weeks, we have found that it only takes a batch of cookies to make it feel like home.
I have based this recipe on the traditional digestive cookie, and was originally inspired by a recipe in our friend Julia Ostro's new cook book (We had a sneak peak – you can pre-order now!) that includes a recipe called “an oat biscuit for dunking”. And it resonated. Because it is no secret that like many long-lived Mediterranean traditional cultures – we are all about the dunking biscuit in the morning's tea or coffee.
To put it simply, these are just good. I feel like it’s something my mum would have made – because they're delicious, but secretly healthy – wholegrain, minimal sugar, and full of good butter (go make your own right now!) which we are also all about: Don’t ever let anyone tell you butter is “bad” for you.
In short, we are all about the dunking biscuit. Enjoy.
Makes approx. 25-35 biscuits // Time 15-20 min + cooling time
Recipe.
Ingredients
175g rolled oats
245g wholemeal spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt
150g unsalted butter, cold or at room temperature
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
A squeeze of lemon juice
100g unprocessed honey
1-2 tablespoons milk of your choice
To finish
100g responsibly sourced dark chocolate (about 60%), broken into pieces
Method
Place oats into a medium mixing bowl, and rub between with your hands to break them up a little, so the oats become ½ oats and ½ flour like in texture (may take 30 seconds or so). Add spelt flour, salt, butter and oil. Massage the mixture with your hands until the mixture comes together.
Add bicarbonate soda and a squeeze of lemon juice on top, so it bubbles (this helps to activate the bicarb!). Add honey, and then the milk a little bit at a time until the dough comes together (you may not need all of the milk). The mixture should be a little sticky and form a ball.
Place the mixture in the fridge for an hour (or more, overnight is fine). This will help the oats to soften a little, harden the mixture for rolling and make the flour even more digestible.
When you are ready to bake the biscuits, preheat your oven to 170°C fan forced. Line baking trays with silicone baking mats or baking paper.
Dust the bench with a little spelt flour. Divide the chilled dough into a few pieces and roll out into sheets that are around 3-4mm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut biscuits into whatever shapes you like! And place on the trays.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Cool on a cooling rack.
Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a small pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally. When melted, use a knife to cover one side of the biscuit with chocolate.
Place them back onto the cooling rack to set until the chocolate is dry to touch.
Store in a biscuit tin on the shelf for a week or more. If you are in a hot place, store in the freezer (see note) to prevent the chocolate from melting.
Notes.
We store these in the freezer, not the fridge, as in the fridge we find they absorb excess moisture and become soft.
