Gluten-free Vegan Biscuits #FreeFromEaster

Jumpy is a real biscuit addict. If she could live on biscuits and biscuits only, she would! Seriously, what is she like? I make ‘normal’ biscuits with my children regularly, but until last month, making our own gluten-free vegan biscuits had never occurred to me. I am not sure why. It is possibly because unlike cakes or bread, Jumpy loves the biscuits we buy for her, so I never really felt a need to whip up a batch of nut-free, gluten-free vegan biscuits for her.

Gluten-free Vegan Biscuits

Now make way for our cute biscuits made with no eggs, wheat, gluten nuts or dairy! Jumpy has had the time of her life with her sister and friends making these a few times over the past month. We normally keep them plain and only ever made them once with icing because to be honest, that makes them overly sweet, but they were so pretty and Easter-like it was worth the sugar rush!

The biscuits are really quick and easy to make: it would be a shame not to treat my little lady to homemade allergy-friendly biscuits once in a while, especially if she makes them herself!

A ‘Free From’ Baking Play Date

The first time we made them was last month, when the girls and I went for a play date at my friend Mili’s. Now Mili is not your average baker. She is a ‘real’ baker, a cake maker, an artist even. Check out her cakes. Mili and I set ourselves a challenge: baking gluten-free vegan cookies and cake pops with the children that afternoon. It was a success from start to finish and we all had a brilliant time. As always, we used the Free From Fairy’s wonderful flour.

Is Baking with Toddlers a Good Idea?

I can understand people’s reluctance to bake with toddlers. I really can. It’s a bit like getting the play dough or painting gear out, isn’t it? You know your house will get wrecked, and you’re never really sure whether the result is going to be anything worth the effort.

The Next Generation of Cooks and Bakers

The thing, though, is that toddlers are keen to get their hands dirty and experiment with food. They enjoy food, mixing and kneading, pouring and rolling. Of course you can develop a love for cooking as you grow older, but if you nurture that love of food in its raw form, show children the very basics of cooking and the logic behind it all, aren’t they more likely to enjoy cooking as they grow older, to do it as second nature rather than going for processed food every time it’s time to eat?

Everything in Moderation

I am not at all part of a ready-made food hate group (does that even exist?) or the ‘sugar will kill you if you have one teaspoon in your coffee’ kind of squad. I really believe in ‘everything in moderation’ so yes, we go to McDonald’s from time to time and I do give my children fish fingers and frozen chips (well, after they’ve been cooked!) with a side of tinned sweetcorn, but not every single day. Rambling over, sorry about the digression! Let’s go back to the biscuits…

We wanted to hang the biscuits on a tree so we made a hole at the top of each one using a straw: nice and easy!

To make sure the icing was sticking to the cooked biscuits, we simply mixed icing sugar with a little water to make ‘glue’ and I think ‘painting’ on biscuits was Wriggly’s favourite part.

With no further ado, here is my recipe for Gluten-free Vegan Biscuits.

To Make a Dozen Allergy-friendly Biscuits …

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Gluten-free Vegan Biscuits

A quick, simple allergy-friendly bake. Who knew it was this easy to make nut and gluten-free vegan biscuits? 

Course treat

Servings 12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon chia seeds, 3 teaspoons water (to make a small chia 'egg')
• 100 g golden caster sugar
• 100 g dairy-free spread (I use Pure Sunflower)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 195 g plain gluten-free flour + 1 tablespoon for dusting (I use the Free From Fairy)

For the decoration (optional)

• 1 small pack small pack vegan ready to roll white icing (I use Renshaw)
• Food colouring
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

Instructions

1. Start by blending the chia seeds until you obtain a fine powder. In a small bowl, mix it with the water, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. In the meantime, whisk the sugar, dairy-free spread and vanilla extract until light in colour and creamy. This should take a couple of minutes. Add the chia egg and mix to combine. Add in the gluten-free flour and mix to a dough. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 (180ºC / 355ºF). Dust a clean, dry work surface with 1/2 a tablespoon of gluten-free flour. Roll the dough to 5 mm (the thickness of a £1 coin).

4. Use an egg-shaped cutter to cut out the biscuits, and a straw to make a hole towards the top of each biscuit. Place on a lined baking tray. Roll the dough leftovers again to make more biscuits. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Keep an eye on them as biscuits can burn pretty quickly.

   

5. The biscuits will be soft, but they will harden as they cool down. Transfer to a wire rack using a palette knife or fish slice.

6. Optional: In the meantime, dust your work surface in a little corn flour and roll the icing. Colour the icing using a little food colouring. Make sure you wear gloves. Roll the icing on a dry, clean work surface lightly dusted with corn flour. Cut into shape and stick to the cold biscuits using the icing sugar and water mixture. Attach a small piece of string to each biscuit!

   

Gluten-free Vegan Biscuits on a Tree

This recipe is part of the ‘Free From’ Gang’s #FreefromEaster challenge 

Our little ‘free from’ gang is expanding! After a few successful collaborations for a ‘free from’ Christmas buffet, Gluten-free Vegan recipes in January and ‘free from’ pancakes last month, we are back with Easter bakes that are ‘free from’ and aimed at children.

Other #FreeFromEaster Recipes from the wonderful ‘Free From’ Gang

Chocolate Marshmallow Crispie Square by Nat at ‘The Intolerant Gourmand’

Berry Breakfast Easter Nests by Emma at ‘Free From Farmhouse’

Vegan Apple, Date & Walnut Hot Cross Buns by Midge at ‘The Peachicks Bakery’

Quick Chocolate Cream Nests by Rebecca at ‘Glutarama’

Easter Rocky Road by Nova at ‘Cherished By Me’

Hot Cross Bun Chocolate Rolls by Vicki at ‘The Free From Fairy’

No Bake Creme Egg Biscuit Cake by Kate at ‘The Gluten Free Alchemist’

Mini Eggs White Chocolate Fudge by Grace at ‘Eats Amazing’

Gluten Free Mini Simnel Cakes & Gluten-Free Mini Egg Brownies by Eb at ‘Easy Peasy Foodie’

Easter Fairy Cakes by Laura at ‘Dairy Free Kids’

Easter Cupcakes & Savoury Egg Muffins by Kirsty at ‘Hijacked by Twins’

A few more recipes and videos will be coming up over the next couple of weeks, so watch this space!

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Disclosure: This blog post includes a few links to Amazon products. As an affiliate, if you click on these products and make a purchase, I may get a small commission.